With a slow salute and pipers playing, the East Pierce Fire & Rescue family welcomed Dan Packer home Wednesday at the Tacoma Narrows Airport.
Packer, 49, of Lake Tapps, died Saturday while fighting a wildfire in Klamath National Forest in Northern California. He had deployed to the site the day before.
JANET JANSEN/The News Tribune / A DC-3 firefighting plane delivered Dan Packer's body from Northern California, where Packer died after a wildfire overran his unit Saturday.
The U.S. Forest Service DC-3 firefighting plane carrying Packer’s body set down on the runway about 3 p.m. A cordon of more than 100 firefighters stood waiting for the orange-and-white plane.
So did an East Pierce medic vehicle dressed with somber blue-and-black bunting and the fire service’s Maltese Cross in black and gold cloth.
East Pierce interim Fire Chief John McDonald and Packer’s widow, Marylee, stepped from the plane first. They had flown to California earlier Wednesday to bring the body back.
With McDonald’s arm around her shoulders, Marylee Packer walked between the two lines of firefighters. Her sobs pierced the sudden quiet of the taxiway.
Eight members of the East Pierce wildfire-fighting team, each wearing a yellow flame-retardant shirt, a red helmet and dark wool pants, slowly wheeled Packer’s flag-wrapped coffin to the medic unit.
Packer had been their instructor.
Two bagpipers from the Tacoma Fire Department Pipe and Drum Team played a Welsh lullaby.
A white Hummer stretch limousine brought other members of Packer’s family to the airport. They gathered together in grief.
Then, with Bonney Lake Police Department motorcycles in the lead, a procession of East Pierce fire vehicles and two buses filled with firefighters made the journey through Gig Harbor and Tacoma to Powers Funeral Home in Puyallup.
As they passed through Gig Harbor, firefighters and equipment from the Gig Harbor-Peninsula Fire Department lined up on John Avenue to salute Packer. They flew an American flag from an extended ladder.
The University Place Fire Department saluted the procession as it passed under the Jackson Street overpass on Highway 16. An American flag also hung from an extended ladder.
East Pierce firefighters and Packer’s family were still in shock over the loss of their leader known throughout the state and beyond. They asked to not be interviewed.
To further honor Packer, Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg directed that all flags on county buildings be lowered to half-staff.
Ladenburg urged other local governments, agencies and residents to do the same.
The flags will stay that way until Aug. 8, the day after the formal memorial service that is expected to draw hundreds of firefighters from throughout the Northwest.
While East Pierce firefighters and staff paused to honor Packer, firefighters and equipment from other Pierce County departments throughout the area filled in at East Pierce’s stations.
Mike Archbold: 253-597-8692
Memorial for Fire Chief Dan Packer
When: 2 p.m. Aug. 7
Where: Christian Faith Center, 33645 20th Ave. S., Federal Way. The public is invited to the service.
Memorials: In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made at any Washington Mutual location to the Fire Chief Dan Packer Memorial Fund. Checks can be mailed to: East Pierce Professional Firefighters, PO Box 7500, Bonney Lake, WA 98391.
West Coast 911 firefighter news source – The News Tribune, Tacoma WA
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