Supervisor Wagner Directs Grant that Will Pay for Local First Responders’ Burials at First-Ever Dedicated Cemetery Site

(Santa Ana, CA) -- Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner is pleased to announce a grant of $1 million from the Third District’s allocation of district discretionary funding to the OC Cemetery District. The grant will pay for burial spaces for local police officers and firefighters in the County’s dedicated first responders’ section of the public cemetery. Supervisor Wagner’s item S58D passed at the Orange County Supervisors today with unanimous support.

The cemetery land is in the Third District, which Supervisor Wagner represents, and the first responder section will be next to OC’s preferred Veterans Cemetery site in Anaheim Hills. Supervisor Wagner’s proposal to create an honorary space for first responders is the first of its kind in the nation.

“Each day police and fire personnel put their lives in peril to keep every resident of Orange County safe,” said Supervisor Don Wagner. “The money for approximately 100 burial spaces for police officers, and 100 spaces for firefighters as their final resting places, will ensure heroes who served alongside each other have a dignified eternal resting place, and proper respect for their service.”

The item is supported by the Orange County Professional Firefighters, Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, Orange County Chief of Police and Sheriff’s Association, Orange County Fire Chief’s Association, OC Black Chamber of Commerce, and counting.

Supervisor Wagner called to reserve a portion of the public cemetery site for police officers and firefighters; his proposal was supported by the Board on March 8, 2022. Each burial space can accommodate 2 burials, so the police officer or firefighter would be able to be buried with his or her significant other and the cost of that space will be covered for both.

To learn more about the item S58D, please read here: rev-sup06282022_10.pdf (ocgov.com)

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