Esko Firefighter Honored at State Capitol Memorial

Posted at: 09/30/2012 6:52 PM | Updated at: 09/30/2012 10:52 PM
By: Laurie Stribling
lstribling@wdio.com

Families and colleagues of firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty gathered at the State Capitol to dedicate a new memorial in honor of their loved ones.

The Fallen Firefighters Memorial was dedicated Sunday in honor of the more than 200 Minnesota firefighters who have been killed on the job. The event took place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and included a procession of family members and firefighters, ringing of bells and a reading of names.

Alina Granholm is part of the Minnesota Fire Service Board and was at the event passing out flags to families. Granholm is from Esko and she lost her husband, Kim Granholm, ten years ago while he was responding to a car fire on Interstate 35. A passing car crashed into the group of responders on the scene.

“I was actually out there that day with Kim and the other firefighters that were out there,” Granholm said. “That day I was not the worried wife. My role that day, as a firefighter, was to kick it into high gear because there were other people that needed help.”

Alina said she joined the volunteer department in order to spend more time with her husband. Since his death, she has used her time to educate people about the “Move Over Law” which could have saved Kim.

“We are never going to forget what happened, but we are going to move forward,” Granholm said. “I love to go around and talk about the 'Move Over Law' because that probably would have saved us that day.”

Alina said she is glad all fallen firefighters can now be properly honored at the memorial in Saint Paul, and she hopes people will learn from her husband's story.

The memorial includes a statue that was moved from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to Capitol grounds. It was unveiled at the ceremony. The site is also surrounded by 100 columns, inscribed with names of firefighters who lost their lives.

(Copyright 2012 WDIO-TV, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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