Philip Dawes

Argentinian by birth, British by blood and Chilean by heart and love. Philip Dawes was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 30, 1940, the son of a British engineer who worked for British Railways.

Philip (aka Felipe) Dawes did his primary and elementary education in Buenos Aires, Antofagasta, Chile, and at Stonyhurst College. After school he moved back to Chile.

At the age of 18 he joined the Santiago Volunteer Fire Brigade, specifically the 14th Fire Company J.A.S Jackson, formed primarily by British residents and British descendants. Almost immediately after joining, Felipe started occupying leadership and command positions both at a company level and at a brigade level. In 1979 he was elected Brigade 4th Commander by his peers.

On January 23, 1980, while attending a meeting at the brigade headquarters a fire was called.

Felipe jumped on a command vehicle and rushed to the scene of the fire, but he didn't make it. At the intersection of Gamero and Vivaceta streets, his command vehicle crashed with another fire engine that was heading to the same fire.

Due to the massive injuries suffered in the accident, Dawes died, aged 39, and the Santiago Volunteer Fire Brigade added a new martyr.

More than 4,000 firefighters attended his funeral, scores of citizens poured to the streets to see the funeral cortege and thank a man that had given his life to try to save others.

Every year, on January 23, "Santiago's Bravest" Volunteer firefighters get together to thank Felipe, and to tell him and his family that he has not been forgotten and that every man in the Brigade is ready to follow him with the ultimate sacrifice.

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