The El Dorado Hills Fire Department Honor Guard was established in 2004. Unfortunately, the need for an Honor Guard was not realized until several tragic events occurred in a short period of time.
In 2003, off-duty Fire Captain Dan Nightengale from Foster City Fire was involved in a fatal vehicle accident in the El Dorado Hills area. A few of our current Honor Guard members responded to this tragedy. The Nightengale family had been on vacation when their vehicle was involved in a rollover accident. Dan’s wife, kids, and family dog were left without a husband and father. This incident hit very close to home for the rescuers. A few months after this tragedy, the El Dorado Hills Fire Department incurred one of their own. On October 27, 2003, Firefighter Ryan Gabriel Shreve lost his battle to a head injury. His injury took place while he was enjoying his life outside of work…much like Captain Nightengale’s. These two tragedies sparked the fire within several members of the El Dorado Hills Fire Department to establish The El Dorado Hills Fire Department Honor Guard.
We are a highly trained unit with a total of fourteen members. All members have attended the one week Goshen Police Department Honor Guard Camp in Indiana or the El Dorado Hills Honor Guard Camp by DFL Training. We have had the opportunity of executing our duties at many events over the years. We have performed at the Annual California Firefighter Memorial, El Dorado County Firefighter Matt Keck’s funeral, Diamond Springs Fire Investigator John Nichol’s funeral, Lake Forest School Blue Ribbon Award Ceremony, our own Fire Station Opening Ceremonies, the Rivercats’ baseball game opening, local Senior luncheons and various other venues. We continue to train monthly at a minimum and offer our services to those in need.
We are the El Dorado Hills Fire Department Honor Guard: Mark Ali, Matt Beckett, David Brady, Ben Cowles, Mike Gygax, Russ Hasemeier, Dale Hemstalk, John Johnston, Mike Lovinger, Dan Nelson, Raymond Phillips, Jason Smith, Carmen Stiern and Brian Wilkey.
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