BC Wildfire Service has released a statement following the passing of one of their firefighters last Thursday.
On social media, they say that the deceased, Devyn Gale, was an initial attack crew member out of the Columbia Fire Zone in Revelstoke and a third-year firefighter. They say she passed due to injuries while fighting a wildfire, in service of her community and the people of BC.
Their statement reads, “She was a trusted colleague, a loving friend, a beloved sibling and a cherished daughter. She personified the iconic Reds and Blues of wildland firefighting in British Columbia: she was bravery, grit, hard work, determination, leadership and selflessness. She was one of us. She was the heart of us.
It is hard to articulate the connectedness of a community like ours. We work shoulder-to-shoulder for long hours in extremely challenging circumstances. Those experiences change you, they connect you, they sustain you.”
Her family says she was an amazing sister and loving daughter who was on the path to becoming a nurse.
“𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐲𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫. 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐲𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐲𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰.” – Gale family
They are encouraging donations in her memory to the Revelstoke Community Foundation to allow her legacy to live on in that community.
