KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Amid the coronavirus pandemic, members of the Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department will do their best to honor EMT Billy Birmingham, the 69-year-old first responder who died of COVID-19 nearly aweek ago.
"We just want to thank Kansas City as a whole for loving on my dad,” said Octavia Standley, Birmingham’s daughter.
#RIPBillyBirmingham https://t.co/Qt5bByt0zT pic.twitter.com/Fiw4XSIdvV
— KCFD (@KCMOFireDept) April 21, 2020
Jimmy Walker, KCFD assistant fire chief, said the pandemic will make paying traditional respects to Birmingham more challenging.
"These times are very different and it's going to be hard to honor Billy Birmingham like we would under normal circumstances,” Walker said, “but we are going to do our very best.”
For a career that is rooted in tradition, Wednesday’s memorial to honor the first responder will be altered as a result of the samevirus that cost Birmingham hislife.
"We will have a procession,” Walker said, “Billy will be put in the back of an ambulance (the casket will be) driven by his former partner and there will be a parade of a few firetrucks and they will drive through the city like we typically do.”
Birmingham worked primarily out of the Eastwood location, according to Walker, which is where Wednesday’s memorial route will stop first, before also stopping at fire stations 35 and 29 before ending at Forest Hills Cemetery.
Six blocks of Troost Avenue will be lined with fire trucks on both sides of the street, where members will pay their respects while maintaining social distancing.
"That way, as a family and a casket roll through we can render our salute there,” said Walker, serving as a final goodbye before his last alarm and one last bell for service over dispatch – marking an end of watch over the city he spent 22 years working to keep safe. "He gave his life for it.”
Standley said her father gave his life in the line of duty and the family is proud of him.
“We are so proud of him,” Standley said, “and I want everybody to know we didn't just have – you didn't just have a man out there, you had somebody who loved what he was doing."
