CalTrans has installed a sign on State Route 38 to honor the memory of a Mentone based U.S. Forest Service firefighter.
The sign in honor of U.S. Forest Service firefighter Brent Michael Witham was installed near Mentone to rename a section of State Route 38 between Mill Creek Bridge and Mountain Home Creek Bridge in his memory on April 29.
Witham, a resident of Mentone, began his firefighting career in Riverside in 2011. Four years later he was a member of an elite Hotshot crew. He died in August 2017 while working on the Lolo Peak Fire in Western Montana. He was 29.
A ceremony to commemorate his life and the sign’s installation will be planned for a later date when restrictions for gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic are lifted.