SWIFT CREEK — The North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Foundation wants to create a monument to honor firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty. A festival in the Swift Creek community Saturday was aimed at raising money and awareness for the project.

Bahama firefighter Ricky Dorsey died on the job during Hurricane Fran in 1996. It is a tragedy that Chief Len Needham will never forget.

"It was hard then, and it's still hard now," Needham says.

Afire in Goldsboro in November 1998took the lives of two firefighters. One of them, Sidney Jones, was a mentor for his younger cousin, firefighter Brandon Jones.

"It was unbelievable. I couldn't believe it," Jones says. "It took me awhile before I actually realized that he was gone."

Firefighters across the state want to raise money for a monument to honor their fallen colleagues.

"It would just mean more than anything in the world," says firefighter Paul Dunwell.

If you would like to donate money to the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Memorial Fund, you can send it to:First Union National Bank1125 U.S. Highway 70 WestGarner, NC 27529

The group estimates that they need to raise $200,000 to build the monument. Since 1972, 82 firefighters have lost their lives in the line of duty in North Carolina.