The National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend Candlelight Service will be broadcast live tonight from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time (Telecast begins at 6:15 and service begins at 6:30). You can view it here and also share it on your department’s website or blog using the embed code provided. The live coverage is sponsored by Motorola Solutions and WUSA-TV. The weekend's video coverage is hosted by Dave Statter of STATter911.com and WTOP Radio's Hillary Howard.

The 30th Annual NFFF Memorial Weekend will honor 72 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2010. Seventeen firefighters who died in previous years will also be honored. The plaques surrounding the Memorial, established in 1981, will contain the names of more than 3,500 firefighters.

2011 Roll of Honor

Over 1,000 volunteers have been hard at work in welcoming nearly 90 survivors. You can still be a part of the weekend events even if you are unable to travel to Emmitsburg.

The NFFF has provided directions and resources for departments and firefighters across the country to participate in the weekend’s ceremonies. Information about lowering the American Flag and sounding sirens is offered as well as a new event to encourage community participation. “Bells Across America for Fallen Firefighters” is an opportunity for fire departments to work with local churches to have church bells rung, or offer a moment of silence or prayer. This new event is a grass roots effort to help fire departments and local congregations honor those who have died. Information on how to present this idea to your local churches and share your participation is provided by the NFFF.

The Virtual Remembrance Banner is an online feature where you can write your message of tribute for a fallen firefighter or share a special memory for the memorial weekend. In addition to other virtual features the Weekend Widget, 2011 Memorial Wallpaper and Buddy Icons have also been made available by the Foundation.

In order to make sure you don’t miss any of the Memorial Weekend coverage, the Foundation has also created the Memorial Weekend Ops Page, where you can go to see the latest homepage, video and social media updates as they happen.

Twenty-seven states experienced line-of-duty deaths in 2010. The deaths resulted from vehicle accidents while en route to or returning from emergency calls, building collapses, natural disaster response, falling, drowning, heart attacks, and burns/smoke inhalation. Take time this weekend to honor the nation’s fallen firefighters from 2010 and past years and also help your department do what it can to avoid having a line of duty death.