Fallen Rice County Fire Chief Honored At Memorial

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Hundreds of uniformed firefighters are expected to gather Sunday to remember their colleagues who died in the line of duty.

The Minnesota Fallen Firefighter Memorial Service is held every year on the last Sunday of September.

Since 1881, 213 Minnesota firefighters have fallen in the line of duty.

Their names are inscribed on columns throughout the memorial, located on the south side of the Capitol grounds.

This year, five firefighters are being honored.

They include Rice Lake Fire Chief Matthew Frantz, who died of an apparent heart attack within 24 hours of responding to a call last December.

The four others being honored are those whose line-of-duty deaths were newly discovered.

Their deaths date back as far as 1913.