Firefighters Honor Volunteer EMT Killed at WA Hospital

Mallory Gruben The Daily News, Longview, Wash. (MCT) Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Chief Dave LaFave said he first met Liliya Zagariya as he does most of the people working with his fire department — over a conversation at a table in the station’s break room. The 20-year-old’s positive attitude and big dreams to become a paramedic, despite the long and intensive path to get there, stood out to LaFave. Though she had only spent about eight months as a volunteer emergency medical technician with the department, she was quickly working her way into the Cowlitz 2 “family,” LaFave said. “Lily, in my conversations with her battalion chief and her company officer and other folks on the shift, had a very positive attitude toward folks and being involved,” LaFave said. “She liked to ride and be assigned to the shift. … She didn’t stand back. She actively participated as a member of the crew. She was really in that stage of developing into the family.” LaFave and several other Cowlitz 2 staff who worked with Zagariya attended her funeral service Tuesday evening, which was held at an undisclosed location at her family’s request. The department also lowered flags to half mast and shrouded their badges in honor of the fallen volunteer. Zagariya was killed Dec. 22 — just a few weeks before she would have started training at the fire academy program with Cowlitz&...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: News News Feed Source Type: news