In late November a smiling Firefighter Frank Martinez visited his brothers at Atlanta Fires’ Squad 4.
“It is an awesome ride, by the way,” Martinez said while out with his squad for a final ride. One of his fellow firefighters broadcast the visit live on Facebook.
Tuesday morning brought the news of Martinez’s passing as he lost his battle with stage four occupational cancer. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
“Fire service has lost a good firefighter, paramedic, and we’ve lost a good friend,” Roswell Fire Chief Ricky Burnett said.
Burnett hired Martinez in 2005. One fire department wasn’t enough for Martinez and he also worked for six years at the same time with the Atlanta Fire Department.
Last week Burnett recognized Martinez with the Roswell Department’s Fire Chief’s Award, the highest honor given to a firefighter. The award is given to a firefighter for extraordinary dedication to the department.
The 45-year-old firefighter humbly accepted the award to a standing ovation.
“He said I’m just a guy that had cancer,” Burnett recalled. “But Frank, the reason he got this award, wasn’t only because of his firefighter and paramedic duties but also because of the person he was that he went above and beyond.”
In late November, it was firefighters for a turn going above and beyond for Martinez. His last wish was to see his Atlanta squad’s new fire apparatus. Dozens of firefighters made sure his wish came true.
They escorted him from the hospital to his home in Forsyth County for hospice care.
Now Burnett said he will remember the firefighter he hired and also the man he watched fight until his last day.
“He set an example not only for the Roswell Fire Department, but for the fire departments across Georgia and the nation with his battle and his disease he had, just kept going with such a positive attitude.”
During the 2016 Georgia legislative session, Martinez had spoke in favor of House Bill 216. The bill would have added cancer to a list of occupational diseases covered by worker’s compensation for firefighters, it is proven that the cancer was caused by the individual’s employment.
The bill passed both Georgia’s House and Senate, but was later vetoed.
