LAFD Honors Chaplains and Family Support Group

Nov 3, 2026 ·

The people who show up for LAFD families on their hardest days were recognized by the Board of Fire Commissioners, and none of them saw it coming.

When a firefighter is hurt, or a family gets the call no one ever wants to receive, two groups are there. They don't seek attention or keep score. They just show up, over and over.

At a recent meeting of the Board of Fire Commissioners, Chief of Staff Kairi Brown honored both: the LAFD Chaplain Corps and the Family Support Group of the Los Angeles Firemen's Relief Association.

Neither group knew the day was about them. Brown asked the Chaplains to attend in support of the Family Support Group, and asked the Family Support Group to attend in support of the Chaplains. "I knew they would never want to be recognized," she said, "so I had to trick them."

The recognition comes in a year of profound loss for the Department. Time and again, these members have shown up to support families and bring calm to the hardest moments.



 

The ministry of presence

The LAFD Chaplain Corps has served the Department since 1941. Every Chaplain is a current or former LAFD member who has worn the uniform. Each is vetted, approved by the Fire Chief, endorsed by their own faith community, and appointed by the Commission. Training takes up to a year.

Chaplains go wherever a member or family needs them: homes, work locations, hospitals. They serve as family liaisons at the IAFF Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Colorado Springs and the California Firefighters Memorial in Sacramento, and they emcee the LAFD Firefighter Memorial at Fire Station 27 each year.

Their care reaches beyond the Department. In September, after a helicopter crashed in Chatsworth, Councilmember John Lee asked the Chaplains to support the community vigil. They showed up for people they had never met.

"A Chaplain doesn't always have the right words, and they don't have to," Brown said. "Sometimes simply being there is what matters most. They call it the ministry of presence."

The Chaplains recognized were active members Captain Kevin Smith, Captain Daniel Lee and Firefighter Daniel Nakamura, along with retired members Engineer George Negrete, Captain Jesus Pasos and Apparatus Operator Daniel Leon, who continue to serve members and the families of the fallen.

A lifeline built from loss

The Family Support Group is led by two women who know firsthand the worst day a fire family can face. Heidi Perez lost her husband, Firefighter Paramedic Jose Perez. Kate Munoz lost her husband, Firefighter III Henry Munoz.

They could have stepped away to grieve in private. Instead, they turned toward other families. The group was founded in 2018 in partnership with the Chaplains, and the two have been connected ever since.

When a family loses a firefighter, the first days are a blur of notifications, visitors and funeral arrangements. Then come pensions, life insurance, benefits, forms and deadlines. Perez and Munoz sit down with each family and walk them through every step.

The help continues long after the funeral. Through retreats and outings, the group helps families cope, take on new responsibilities and find one another.

"Anyone can read a checklist," Brown said. "Heidi and Kate bring something no checklist can. They have lived it. When they say 'I understand,' the family knows it is true."

First to arrive, last to leave

Brown closed by speaking directly to the honorees. "When the worst day comes for one of our families, you are the first to arrive and the last to leave," she said. "You ask for nothing. Today, we get to give a little back."

Fire Chief Moore presented certificates of recognition to each Chaplain, and to Heidi Perez and Kate Munoz, on behalf of the Department and the entire LAFD family.