Westminster : ‘Full Service’ Funeral for Firefighter Today
Westminster firefighters will honor Battalion Chief Robert Alfonso with a “full service” funeral today, saluting the 42-year-old veteran fireman who died Monday.
Alfonso was forced to retire in May after contracting lung cancer that doctors say was caused by years of breathing smoke and toxic fumes from fires.
Alfonso, who joined the department in 1964, served two years in Vietnam in the military and rejoined the department in 1967 as a firefighter. He was promoted through the ranks, holding the positions of engineer, captain and, since 1976, battalion chief.
Capt. Mike Garrison said a large variety of fire apparatus will be a part of the procession to Calvary Chapel in Santa Ana for the 10 a.m. funeral, to be followed by burial at Westminster Memorial Park.
Doctors first diagnosed Alfonso’s cancer in 1981.
“The Western Medical Center told him he had lung cancer, and it was confirmed as being caused by toxic smoke he was exposed to while fighting fires,” Battalion Chief D’Wayne Scott said.
In recent years, firefighters have become “more and more aware of the long-term effects” of toxic smoke on those exposed to it, Scott added.
Alfonso is survived by his wife, Cherrie, his mother, Mary, and four brothers.
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