Missouri honors two fallen Southeast Missouri firefighters for Fire Service Memorial Day
FOX23 News at 9 p.m.
KINGDOM CITY, Mo. (KBSI) — Two Southeast Missouri firefighters are among five honored Sunday at the Fire Fighters Memorial of Missouri, where their names have been added to the Wall of Honor.
Whitewater Fire Chief Gary Glenn Moore and Butler County Shift Commander Jackson Montgomery Warren are recognized during the Oct. 4 service honoring firefighters who died in the line of duty.
Gov. Mike Kehoe proclaims the date Fire Service Memorial Day in Missouri. Families, friends and firefighters gather in Kingdom City following a candlelight vigil Saturday evening.
“I came here because we know this ground. We know what it costs and the price to put people on these walls,” FDNY Chief of Department Esposito says during the ceremony.
Moore, 68, died April 2, 2025, while responding to a tornado in Delta.
His firefighting service began in the 1970s, when he volunteered as a firefighter and emergency medical technician with several departments. After retiring from the U.S. Navy, he moved to Whitewater and volunteered with the Whitewater Fire Protection District. He became chief in the mid-1990s.
“When the weather turned and people needed help, the chief turned out,” Esposito says.
Warren, 27, joined the Butler County Fire Protection District as a full-time firefighter in October 2021. He was promoted to shift commander March 6, 2026.
That same day, he died when the brush truck he was driving crashed while responding to a grass fire.
“He was young and had a promising future. He had just become a commander. The call went out and he responded,” Esposito says.
The service also honors Capt. Andrew Stephen Donner of the Fort Osage Fire Protection District, Heavy Rigging Specialist Larry Roland Duncan of Missouri Task Force 1 and firefighter Lee Michael Kraus of the St. Louis Fire Department.
Donner, 36, died of occupational cancer in 2019 after serving 12 years in the fire service. Duncan, 64, served with several Missouri fire districts and deployed to Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. According to the Missouri Division of Fire Safety, his service there led to his line-of-duty death in 2025.
Kraus, 52, dedicated 31 years to public service, first as an EMT and later as a St. Louis firefighter. He died in 2025 after suffering a medical emergency in the line of duty.
“A storm and a crash. That is the fire service. Most of all, losses are taken on a day that was ordinary until it turned tragic,” Esposito says.
Missouri Department of Public Safety Deputy Director Troy Murdock reads Kehoe’s proclamation during Sunday’s service.
“We are moved by the courageous service of all the heroes we remember today,” Murdock says.
The proclamation recognizes more than 450 members of Missouri’s fire service who have died in the line of duty, dating back to the early 19th century. It also acknowledges the pain families experience long after losing a loved one.
More than 22,000 firefighters serve with over 800 career and volunteer fire service agencies across Missouri, according to the proclamation.
The state Capitol dome is illuminated red throughout the weekend to honor fallen firefighters and their families.
