Local firefighters to be added to Memorial Wall in Sacramento

Rene Ray De La Cruz, Victorville Daily Press
·5 min read
The names of three fallen firefighters from San Bernardino County will be added to the California Firefighters’ Memorial Wall in Sacramento’s historic Capitol Park and honored in the 2022 Memorial Ceremony.
The names of three fallen firefighters from San Bernardino County will be added to the California Firefighters’ Memorial Wall in Sacramento’s historic Capitol Park and honored in the 2022 Memorial Ceremony.

The names of three fallen firefighters from San Bernardino County will be added to the California Firefighters’ Memorial Wall in Sacramento’s historic Capitol Park and honored in the 2022 Memorial Ceremony.

The firefighters to be honored include SBC Fire Department Captain Arthur Eugene King and Engineer Cory Bruce Norton and Barstow Fire Protection District Engineer David Allen Spink.

The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Safe Credit Union Convention Center, followed by an evening recessional to the Memorial Wall in Capitol Park. This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the memorial at the park.

The ceremony will be live-streamed on the California Fire Foundation YouTube Channel.

David Allen Spink

Barstow Fire officials announced that during the ceremony, the department will be represented by Fire Chief Nick DiNapoli and President Captain John Wymore of the Barstow Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 2325

“It’s been over 6 months since you left us. Not a day goes by we don’t think about you and honor your memory! We miss you every day,” Barstow Fire officials said about Spink.

Spink died on Jan 9 at Linda Linda University Medical Center after he was critically injured while he and other firefighters responded to a traffic collision on Interstate 15 in Barstow.

Spink, an engineer, going on 33 years with Barstow Fire, was with two fellow firefighters when they responded to a traffic collision that occurred shortly before 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 5, 2021, near L Street.

While Spink was working off the roadway and treating patients, "a fast-moving vehicle" on the freeway struck him, said Barstow Fire Captain Travis Espinoza.

A Mercy Air 66 emergency flight airlifted Spink to Loma Linda soon after the collision.

Spink began his fire career in 1990 as a paid call firefighter in Barstow and was hired full-time two years later. He was promoted to the rank of engineer in 1999.

Spink is survived by his wife, Coleen, his father, Walt, and his brothers, Logan and Ryan. He is also survived by his son, Dallen, who is a Barstow firefighter/paramedic, according to Barstow Fire officials.

Arthur Eugene King

After 34 years of firefighting, King retired in 2017 after serving with the SBC Fire. He served mainly in the Victorville area for nearly a decade.

An Apple Valley resident, King, died in Oct. 2018, shortly after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia, his wife, Debbie, told the Daily Press in a previous interview.

King was a reserve firefighter for the City of Montclair from 1983-1991. He was hired in Aug. 1991 by the City of Victorville, where he was promoted to engineer in May 1998 and captain in 2006.

In 2008, Victorville Fire transitioned to SBC Fire, where King remained a captain until his retirement.

King received a Firefighter of the Year Award in 1994 and took on many extra projects, including woodworking for all the departments.

King is survived by his wife, Debbie King, daughter Candice Weber, and son Arthur R. King.

Cory Bruce Norton

In Sept. 2020, firefighter Norton, 33, a Big Bear native, died after a five-year battle with epithelioid sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer.

Norton began his career with the SBC Fire District in 2008 after serving four years as a paid-call firefighter.

Norton is survived by his wife, Tawni, his son, Cole, and daughter, Tenley.

The following fallen firefighters will also be added to the Memorial Wall:

  • Stephen T. Andrews – Chico

  • Terry Lee Armstrong – Orange City

  • Brian Ballentine – Los Angeles County

  • Hans Bolowich – CAL FIRE

  • Troy Michael Buzzell – Santa Clara City

  • Tory Carlon – Los Angeles County

  • James Como – Los Angeles City

  • Brian Coney – Orange County

  • Jason Andrew Cortez – San Francisco

  • Stanley Craig – CAL FIRE

  • Gregory A. Crawford – Fresno City

  • John Cronin – Redwood City

  • Mark Danielson – Orange County

  • Brian Joseph Dickson – Ebbetts Pass

  • Bill Durham – Fresno

  • Carlos Estrella – Los Angeles County

  • Harvey N. Farncomb – Sacramento City

  • Ramon Figueroa – Porterville

  • Jonathan Flagler – Los Angeles County

  • Jacob Flores – CAL FIRE

  • Max Fortuna – Stockton

  • Robert Francis – San Jose

  • Donald Dwight Glor – South County

  • Joseph Albert Grubba – Herald

  • Dean Hale – Murrieta

  • Stacy Arthur Hamilton – CAL FIRE

  • Larry Don Hammer Jr. – Fountain Valley

  • Gary Hart – Ventura County

  • Daniel Stephen Havicus – Tracy

  • Peter Alan Hein – Big Pine

  • William James – Los Angeles City

  • Patrick Jones – Porterville

  • Yaroslav Katkov – CAL FIRE

  • William Lee Knott – Los Angeles County

  • Gary Kuhl – Orange County

  • Sean D. Laffan – Oakland

  • Robert Charles Leitzke – Modesto

  • William Vance Lobsitz – Sacramento Metro

  • Jorge Loera – CAL FIRE

  • William Clayton Macauley – Bakersfield

  • Storm McInerny – North County

  • W. Chris Mertz – Rancho Santa Fe

  • Rudolph Metzger – Carlsbad

  • Eric John Mikel – Alameda County

  • Ryan J. Mitchell – CAL FIRE

  • Henry Munoz – Los Angeles City

  • Rueben Murrieta – Ventura County

  • Mike Nagy – Culver City

  • Samuel Christian Neubauer – Los Angeles County

  • Jason O’Brien – CAL FIRE

  • Gary Dean Oliver – Ventura County

  • Christopher Bryan Parker – Long Beach

  • Michael J. Peel – Rialto

  • Ulrich Giora Peretz – Redwood City

  • Jose M. Perez – Los Angeles City

  • Glen Ray Phillips – Los Angeles City

  • Robert E. Praytor – CAL OES

  • Robert Anthony Ramos – Pinole

  • Manuel Ramos – Los Angeles County

  • Vincent Rodgers – Riverside City

  • Mark Roedel – CAL FIRE

  • George A. Roque – Los Angeles City

  • Paul Vincent Rotondaro – CAL FIRE

  • John Ruedy – Los Angeles City

  • Raymond Santoyo – Chino Valley

  • Jerry Chase Shacklett – Orange County

  • Douglas B. Shank – CAL FIRE

  • John Spiker – Ventura County

  • Tamara Thacher – Sacramento City

  • Mark A. Tolbert – Los Angeles County

  • R. Bruce Turbeville – CAL FIRE

  • Andy Valenta – Vista

  • Ray E. Van Blarcom – Los Angeles City

  • Manuel J. Vero – Sacramento City

  • Richard Watson – Los Angeles City

  • Conrad Weisker – Sacramento City

  • Donald Welcker – Los Angeles City

  • Christopher Wurster – CAL FIRE

  • Christopher Yock – San Francisco

For more information, contact the California Fire Foundation at 916-641-1707 or cafirefoundation@cpf.org.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Local firefighters to be added to Memorial Wall in Sacramento