VENTURA : Mourners Bid Adieu to Fire Captain

Three fire radio tones signaled the end of county Fire Capt. Ted Marsh’s tour of duty Friday in Ventura just before three helicopters flew over his funeral.

Nearly 300 mourners listened to the voice of fire dispatcher Jackie Noel on radios worn by the uniformed firefighters who came to Marsh’s funeral at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park.

“The life of a firefighter is closely related to the sound of tones,” Noel said. “As he begins his hours of duty, the tones start it off. . . . Tradition tells us that when the fire was out, the call completed, a bell rings three times to signal the end.”

After Noel spoke, three tones sounded over the radio, the shots of a seven-gun salute rang out, a trumpet played taps and three yellow county helicopters rumbled overhead.

Marsh, a firefighter for more than 20 years, died at age 49 of melanoma, a form of skin cancer, according to his close friend, firefighter Don Vinson. Vinson said it is unclear whether the cancer was job-related.

The county risk management division of the General Services Agency is looking through Marsh’s job history for exposures during fires to asbestos, chemicals released during burning, or soot and ash that come off during the job, said county fire spokeswoman Sandi Wells.

Vinson attributed the large group of uniformed firefighters and mourners who crowded around Marsh’s grave and family to Marsh’s “very warm, very genuine” personality.

Before the funeral, a procession of about 20 county fire engines and trucks drove under an American flag hanging from an apex formed by two extended firetruck ladders near the cemetery’s entrance.

The ceremony began as the pallbearers carried Marsh’s coffin, draped with an American flag, between two long lines of firefighters who stood somberly with their hands clasped behind their backs.

The pallbearers then carefully folded the flag into a triangle and handed it to Fire Chief George Lund.

Lund gave the flag, Marsh’s red helmet labeled “26” for the station where he worked from 1981 to 1990, and a new copy of the fire codes book to Marsh’s wife, Diedra. Each of the 29 Fire Prevention Division members signed the book.

Marsh was instrumental in the adoption of fire codes for Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, Wells said.

Marsh, who went on sick leave and retired last month, died Wednesday.