Medford Fire reacts to Mark Burns honor

Medford, Ore. — Medford Fire and Rescue was ecstatic after hearing that one of their own will be honored for his work on the Oregon Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial Wall.

NBC5 News first reported that Mark Burns was receiving the honor on Thursday.

The 29-year veteran of Medford Fire and Rescue passed away in March after suffering complications from smoke inhalation after the 2010 Oak Knoll Fire in Ashland.

His former colleagues said that fire was his life, and they couldn’t think of a better way to honor him.

“He was there at his own risk and his own peril to help the residents that were in Ashland that day and didn’t even think twice about it. He was right there in the middle of it,” Justin Bates said, deputy chief of Medford Fire and Rescue.

Burns was unanimously approved by the board on public safety standards and training and will be officially added to the memorial wall in September.

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