Whitehorse firefighters will attend a memorial in Yellowknife Tuesday for two firefighters there who died in the line of duty.

Veteran firefighter Cyril Fyfe, 41, died in hospital Wednesday after his family took him off life support.

The roof of a Home Hardware store collapsed on him and collegue Kevin Olson, 24, last Thursday when the two were battling a blaze from inside the structure. Other firefighters who were on the roof at the time of the collapse were able to get out safely.

Olson died last Thursday, after being on the job in Yellowknife for only 10 days.

This morning, Kevin Taylor, the fire prevention and training officer for the territory as well as chief of the Golden Horn Volunteer Department, said 12 representatives from the territory will be part of a delegation heading to the memorial in Yellowknife on Tuesday for the two fallen men.

Taylor will represent the territory and volunteer fire departments. Volunteer chiefs, Whitehorse fire chief Clive Sparks and the recently-formed five-member Whitehorse Fire Department honour guard will also be part of the group.

'We have a real brotherhood,' Taylor said of firefighters everywhere.

Both Taylor and Sparks pointed out in separate interviews the Northwest Territories are northern neighbours, sharing many common features in firefighting.

Like Whitehorse, Sparks noted, the Yellowknife department is made up both of paid firefighters and volunteers.

There's never been a firefighter killed in the line of duty in the North until now, Taylor said.

'We all feel some of their hurt,' Sparks said this morning.

Both also noted the shock and disbelief that came when they heard the news about the first death last week.

Taylor had walked into his office to find a message to call a media outlet. As he was making that call, he checked his e-mail to find a co-worker had forwarded him a press release about it.

'First of all, it was shock,' he said.

From there, he, and it seemed everyone else, felt very badly for the Yellowknife department, the firefighters and their families.

As Sparks pointed out, it's difficult to put into words the feelings that come from the tragedy, what he called a 'fire chief's worst nightmare.

'There's always the shock and disbelief,' he said, adding then there are questions of how and why it happened.

It has made Sparks look more closely at what the department does, especially since it had just started new safety training.

He stressed that while he wasn't 'for a minute' implying there weren't safety precautions taken in Yellowknife during last Thursday's fire, any sort of situation like that will make you look at everything done in the department to make sure all possible safety precautions are followed.

Even when everything is done to ensure the safety of firefighters, 'things can happen' that are unpredictable, Sparks said.

While the city has offered the honour guard to the Yellowknife department for the memorial, Sparks said he's not sure whether it will be used.

The honour guard from the Edmonton department, which Sparks said Yellowknife has closer ties to, will be there on Monday for Olson's funeral and may stay until Tuesday. However, the delegation from the Yukon will help in whatever way it can.

The Whitehorse honour guard made their first public appearance last year at an Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs meeting. The honour guard can do opening and closing ceremonies, take part in parades and other such events, as well as being part of memorial services and funerals.

While the memorial is set to get underway at 1 p.m., neither Sparks nor Taylor had heard where it will be.

'Right now, they're in a state of shock,' said Taylor of the Yellowknife department.

Sparks was hoping to be in touch with Yellowknife officials later today about the location. He also noted if he can't get through, it might be a matter of arriving on Tuesday and simply asking where it will be.

The Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs is putting $1,000 and the City of Whitehorse and territory may 'chip in' for the delegation to head to Yellowknife. However, the individual firefighters and chiefs will be using their own money to fund the $9,500-Air North charter.

'It's a duty that we do,' Taylor said, noting those planning to attend don't seem to mind paying out of pocket for the flight.

He also noted the assistance of Air North, which he said is giving as low a rate as it can on the charter.