Four Newtown men are among those being remembered this week as local fire stations participate in Light the Night for Fallen Firefighters.

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation launched the annual observance in 2017 to commemorate the foundation’s 25th anniversary. Held annually ahead of National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend, the tribute has grown to include fire departments, families, and communities across the country lighting their homes and buildings in red to honor fallen firefighters.

This year’s initiative will run from April 26 to May 3, culminating with the memorial weekend taking place at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Md.

Nationally, 97 firefighters died in the line of duty in 2025. Their names will be formally unveiled on the national monument this weekend. The names of another 107 firefighters who died in previous years will also be formally unveiled.

Locally, Newtown’s fire companies will again honor the four men who have died in the line of duty.

Botsford Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Peter Blomberg died October 28, 2024, after being struck by a vehicle while crossing Church Hill Road, en route to the annual Board of Fire Commissioners meeting.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company Chief William Halstead died July 8, 2022, following a call earlier in the day.

Newtown Hook & Ladder firefighter Steven Sauter died while fighting a house fire on Gray’s Plain Road on October 31, 1973.

Lewis C. Durgy died August 8, 1933, from burns sustained when the Hawleyville firehouse burned down.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company EMS Captain Karin Halstead said the red lights at Sandy Hook’s two stations will be again be lit “in memory of all who died, especially the four from Newtown.”

In conjunction with the observance of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service — and according to legislation approved by President George W. Bush in October 2001 — American flags across the country will be lowered on Sunday, May 3.