Committee hears bill to move Kansas fallen firefighters memorial to Wichita museum

House Bill 2372 would abolish the existing entity that oversees the state fallen firefighters memorial and establish a Kansas Firefighters Memorial Advisory Committee; the bill also would relocate the memorial from the State Capitol Plaza to the Kansas Firefighters Museum in Wichita.

A Revisor from the Statutes Office summarized the bill and its key provisions, including membership for the advisory committee and the proposed location change. “Current law provides that the memorial for fallen firefighters would be within the State Capitol Plaza, and the bill provides the fallen firefighter memorial would be located at the Kansas firefighters museum in, Wichita,” the Revisor said.

Mark Engle, the State Fire Marshal, testified in a neutral capacity and said the fire service had raised no objections to the proposal. Engle asked that statutory oversight and governance language be kept simple if the memorial is recognized as the state memorial and placed at the museum; he recommended minimizing layers of gubernatorial appointments and agency facilities-management oversight if the memorial is removed from the Capitol grounds.

Committee members noted several written proponents and neutral filings from fire service organizations and Wichita city contacts. The committee heard the testimony and did not take a vote at the hearing.