CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — A permanent memorial now stands at the Enon Training Center to honor Hamid Mahdavi, an Iranian firefighter who was shot and killed while rescuing people.
The memorial, featuring a juniper tree and a plaque, was organized by Ozzie Mirkhah, an Altria fire protection engineer and retired Las Vegas firefighter. Mirkhah left Iran when he was 17 and built a career in the American fire service.
"This dedication is to honor Hamid Mahdavi, who was a firefighter in Iran, who was shot to death on Jan. 8 when they closed down the internet and started shooting people," Mirkhah said.
According to Mirkhah, 45,000 people were killed during the unrest. He said Mahdavi carried several victims to safety before he was killed.
"As he was carrying the last on his back, he was shot," Mirkhah said.
Mirkhah said the instinct to run toward danger so others can run away has no borders. During the memorial at the training center, the American and Iranian flags flew side by side.
"We put every political aspect of this aside and focus on the main point; that is fire service, brotherhood," Mirkhah said. "That is commonality of goal to serve public and put your life on the line to save others. And to that commonality, anywhere in the world that you go, whether it's Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Iran or here, we are all brothers and sisters."
Chesterfield County Fire and EMS Chief Loy Senter supported the initiative after Mirkhah requested the memorial space.
"All firefighters around the world, regardless of national origin, have the same DNA," Senter said. "They have the same commitment to service in their community, the courage to do the right things in the face of danger and adversity and the willingness to lay down their lives so others may live."
The memorial sits more than 6,000 miles away from where Mahdavi served.
"What we are planting here is not a tree, it's a seed of compassion and camaraderie. And to me, that's so important because the fruit of that is love and brotherhood," Mirkhah said. "So to me, this is just a symbol — a great symbol — of our commonality of serving our public the best that we could."
Chief Senter said he is grateful that Mirkhah reached out to plan this memorial service. He said there is more opportunity in the future to build on Mahdavi's memorial and recognize other firefighters to serve as an example to those serving in Chesterfield County.
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