Post Falls to shine red lights for fallen firefighters April 26-May 3

Post Falls is joining a countywide tribute this week with a simple but visible gesture: red lights on landmarks, businesses, firehouses and homes to honor fallen firefighters and support the crews still protecting Kootenai County.

Mayor Randy Westlund issued the proclamation recognizing National Fallen Firefighters Month and naming Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Frank J. Harwood and Coeur d’Alene Fire Battalion Chief John G. Morrison. The observance runs from April 26 through May 3, matching the national Light the Night for Fallen Firefighters campaign and giving residents a short, concrete way to show respect.

The tribute carries unusually local weight. Harwood, 42, and Morrison, 52, died on June 29, 2025, while responding to a grass fire on Canfield Mountain in Coeur d’Alene. Harwood had served Kootenai County Fire & Rescue for 17 years, was married, had two children and had been a former Army National Guard combat engineer. Their deaths left families, co-workers and neighboring departments in mourning, while underscoring that the danger for firefighters does not end when the public stops watching.

The red-light display is meant to be easy to join and hard to miss. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation invites landmarks, homes, fire service organizations and businesses across the country to glow red during the April 26-May 3 period. The foundation launched Light the Night in 2017 to mark its 25th anniversary, and the observance leads into National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend in Maryland, where more than 200 names will be added to the memorial on May 3.

In Post Falls, the proclamation links remembrance to continuity of service. The city is not only honoring two men who died in the line of duty, but also recognizing the crews who still answer calls across Kootenai County, often working side by side with neighboring departments in Coeur d’Alene and beyond. The tribute also comes as other Idaho communities are marking the same period, including Caldwell, which proclaimed April 26 through May 3 a Week of Remembrance for fallen firefighters and emergency services personnel.

For families who lost loved ones and for firefighters still on duty, the red lights offer more than symbolism. They make the sacrifice visible on streets, in storefronts and at fire stations across the city, turning a week of remembrance into a shared public acknowledgment of the risks that remain part of everyday life in Kootenai County.