On behalf of Clallam County Fire District 3, we want to share the information about the memorial service for fallen Firefighter Captain Charles "Chad" Cate scheduled for Saturday, January 21 at 12:30 p.m. at the Sequim High School.
Officials at Clallam County Fire District 3, on behalf of Captain Charles “Chad” Cate’s family, are announcing an overview of the procession and memorial service that is being organized to honor their fallen brother. Captain Cate passed away in the line of duty on Thursday, January 12. The memorial will be held on Saturday, January 21 at 12:30 p.m. at Sequim High School. The public and members of the fire service are welcome to attend. To join in the procession of fire apparatus before the memorial, participants must register in advance at www.tinyurl.com/ChadCateMemorial. Additional information will be shared when available.
As many as 1,000 people along with up to 80 fire apparatus are expected to attend. Motorists in the Sequim and Carlsborg areas can expect periodic slowdowns as the memorial procession moves immediately before the service.
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Captain Cate was discovered deceased in his bunk by members of his crew when they attempted to wake him around 7 a.m. on Thursday, January 12 at the fire district’s Station 34. He was last seen following a response to a fire alarm activation at a commercial building at about 2:25 a.m. when he and his crew members returned to the station and went to bed after the call. Later, after apparently heading back out to the site of an earlier house fire in the Dungeness neighborhood, he texted a fellow captain and the duty chief at around 4 a.m. to say that all was well at the scene.
Captain Cate was raised in the area and graduated from Sequim High School where he has continued to be involved as the wrestling coach. He began serving as a volunteer firefighter in 1994, was hired by the fire district in 1996 as firefighter/EMT, added “paramedic” to his qualifications in 2001 and promoted to the rank of captain in 2021. Captain Cate was a proud and active member of the Clallam County Professional Firefighters, Local 2933. He leaves behind his wife, Renee, 2 year-old son, Charles Thomas Cate III and two adult children – Harrison, who is a Cadet 4th Class at the U.S. Air Force Academy and Ashleigh, who is serving in the U.S. Army as a combat medic with the 82nd Airborne.