Seattle Fire pays final respects to one of their own: 31-year veteran Deputy Chief Jay Schreckengost
BELLEVUE, Wash. - The Seattle Fire Department paid their final respects to one of their own on Sunday afternoon.
Deputy Chief Jay Schreckengost served the City of Seattle for over three decades. Chief Harold Scoggins said he worked closely with the deputy chief these last six years.
"We talked about barbecuing and smoking meat. He enjoyed it, I enjoy it. I loved listening to his stories about his motorcycle trips and things like that. I’ll remember that forever," said Chief Scoggins. "Jay worked all over the city of Seattle in many capacities, and he served well he had a heart for service just like every Seattle firefighter that’s why you see so many of them here today
Over a hundred Seattle Fire members in uniform lined up to create a Corridor of Honor in his memory, as his family walked down the line into the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue where the memorial service took place.
"What you see is the presence of so many firefighters coming to pay their last respects to Jay and his family in a very respectful, honorable way. That’s very important to us in the fire service," said Chief Scoggins.
Engine 33 was dressed in signs of mourning with black bunting, which was the last engine the deputy chief worked on. Deputy 2, which was the deputy chief’s last assignment, had a black strike through it to symbolize the loss.
The Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office said Schreckengost went missing on November 2. An avid hunter, investigators said the deputy chief went scouting for elk in rugged and dangerous terrain in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest near Cliffdell.
It launched a valiant search effort of over 60 agencies, and more than 160 members of Seattle Fire who were determined to find the deputy chief.
Deputy Chief Schreckengost was eventually located on November 14, at the bottom of a sharp, broken slope about 700 feet in elevation, according to authorities, who believe Schreckengost slipped or fell more than once down a steep hillside or cliff with the final fall causing a fatal spinal fracture.
"We’re asking the community to keep the Seattle Fire Department in their thoughts and prayers, but we’re still running calls every day. We’re still serving, but we’re grieving too, and that’s important for the community to know," said Chief Scoggins.
Schreckengost leaves behind a wife and two children.
Seattle Fire is also mourning the deaths of three other members since October. Two have passed away due to cancer and on Wednesday a firefighter/EMT suddenly died before his shift.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Seattle deputy fire chief died after falling down hillside, coroner says
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