fire engine renumbered in honor of firefighter

 

ENGINE COMPANY 216 TO BE RENUMBERED IN HONOR OF

FALLEN COUNTY FIREFIGHTER JIM HOWE

 

Los Angeles – January 7, 2009 – On the eighteenth anniversary of the fire that took the life of Los Angeles County Fire Fighter Specialist Jim Howe, Engine Company 9 that he drove will once again roll out – this time out of Fire Station 16.  Howe suffered major injuries while fighting an arson fire in a commercial building in Huntington Park on January 9, 1991, when an awning section of the building collapsed on him.  He died one week later at the age of 47.

In honor of Howe’s ultimate sacrifice made in the line of duty, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman will officially renumber Engine 216 as Engine Company 9 at a special ceremony on Friday, January 9, 2009, at 11 a.m., at Fire Station 16, 8010 Compton Avenue in South Los Angeles.

Old Engine 9 was disbanded on September 1, 1994, when the Department reconfigured its service area, reassigning that engine to serve as Engine 216, the second engine at Fire Station 16.  These unique circumstances gave the Department an opportunity to renumber the engine to honor one of its own.

Howe, nicknamed by his firehouse colleagues as the “Tasmanian Devil” for his extraordinary firefighting skills and zeal for public service, served as a County firefighter for 22 years and was the recipient of three commendations for acts of valor and public service.

County officials will be joined at the ceremony by members of the Howe family and Fire Department personnel, many of whom worked with Howe as fellow crew members.

For more information, please contact Fire Captain Mike Brown at (323) 881-2413.

 

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