By Matt Nemeth

Local firefighters applaud Community Heroes benefit announcement

Mar 23, 2017 | 6:34 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The president of Medicine Hat’s Firefighters Association is applauding the federal government’s plan to create a fund for the families of those who have died in the line of duty.

Called the Community Heroes benefit, $80 million has been allocated to be given out over a five year period by Justin Trudeau’s government.

The money will go to the surviving family of firefighters, police, paramedics, and other public safety officers who die in the line of duty.

The last Medicine Hat firefighter to perish on scene was Henry Paulson in 1978, while Brian Lambert’s death in 2013 due to cancer has been attributed to the hazards of his career.

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Medicine Hat Firefighters Association President Curtis Noble says this type of a fund is something they’ve been lobbying the federal government to implement since 1992.

“We were very pleased that the federal government decided to include this in the budget,” said Noble Thursday afternoon next to the firefighters memorial near Station No. 3. “It’s something that we as firefighters have been asking for for a great number of years and it’s going to provide a good benefit to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Noble says each year around 15-20 firefighters across Canada lose their life in the line of duty.