One year later: Memorial honoring fallen Pennsylvania firefighter unveiled

A volunteer doesn’t ask why. They go because they’re called to help someone in need.

That’s exactly what North East firefighter Shawn Giles was doing one year ago when he was killed by a speeding car ignoring the safety perimeter at an accident.

“His ultimate sacrifice saved lives a year ago, including my own. We think of him every day and continue to respond in his honor,” Captain Dan Adams of the North East Fire Department said.

Since that time, first responders have continued to face similar dangerous situations on the roads often.

“Shawn didn’t have to die. It was a routine fender bender, but people need to understand that there are flashing lights and cones for a reason,” Adams said.

It’s why Adele Burnette-Giles, Shawn’s wife, said she’ll continue to stand up for those putting themselves in harm’s way, and a memorial in Gibson Park dedicated in his honor will be a regular reminder of that.

“I promised Shawn that his death was not going to be in vain. I was going to try to do my part to make sure this senseless tragedy doesn’t happen to another family. Shawn was supposed to come home that day,” Burnette-Giles said.

That call for awareness spreads beyond just first responders but to anyone who works on the roads and expects to return home safely.

Burnette-Giles has become an advocate for not just awareness on the roads but also the Move Over Law , which makes slowing down, heeding traffic changes and moving over for construction workers and first responders no longer common courtesy but the law.

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According to PennDOT, 158 first responders attending to emergencies have been struck and killed in Pennsylvania and any more that follow will be one death too many.

“I’m hoping that we never have to go through this again, but I don’t want people to forget. Fifty years from now, I want people to remember that he gave his life protecting other people. He took that job seriously,” Burnette-Giles. said

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