On Thursday, September 10, 2026, the Professional Fire Fighters Union of Indiana added ten names to the Indiana Law Enforcement and Fire Fighters Memorial at Bicentennial Plaza in Indianapolis. This page documents each honoree with an end-of-watch date, an official memorial or federal record where one exists, and independent news coverage. It is part of an ongoing independent effort to reconcile the names engraved on the memorial against public records. It is not affiliated with PFFUI.
How to read the status tags
VERIFIED An official record (National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, U.S. Fire Administration, or Supporting Heroes) and at least one independent news source agree on department, date, and circumstances.
CHECK One or more core facts are not yet confirmed by an official source. The name is on the memorial; the supporting documentation is incomplete.
STONE Spelling, middle initials, and suffixes below come from news reporting and official records. They have not yet been compared against the actual engraving. Fieldwork photos are pending.
Summary
| Name | Department | End of Watch | Age | Cause (summary) | Official record | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotty Lee Adams | Milton-Washington Twp. VFD | Apr 25, 2025 | 47 | Found unresponsive at home after MVA response | NFFF | VERIFIED |
| Chad R. Butts | Princeton FD (retired) | May 26, 2025 | 62 | Died at home; LODD basis not published | None located | CHECK |
| Kenneth Caldwell | La Crosse VFD | Jun 6, 2024 | 63 | Collapsed at home hours after field fire | USFA | VERIFIED |
| Donald E. “Hev” Caylor | Ridgeville VFD, Asst. Chief | Mar 9, 2025 | 66 | Collapsed at station gearing up for structure fire | NFFF, USFA | VERIFIED |
| Lucas A. “Luke” Gehlhausen | Celestine VFD | Sep 7, 2025 | 41 | Vehicle crash responding to structure fire | NFFF, USFA | VERIFIED |
| Franklin “Bud” Hardesty | Lizton-Union Twp. VFD | Feb 9, 1947 | Unknown | Electrocuted at fire scene | None (pre-1981) | CHECK |
| Adam J. “Pugsley” Kuspa | Elkhart FD, Captain | Jan 6, 2025 | 41 | Pulmonary embolism after training injury | NFFF | VERIFIED |
| James D. Mastison Jr. | Evansville FD, Captain | Feb 16, 2025 | 62 | Occupational cancer | Supporting Heroes | VERIFIED |
| John G. Robinson | Lafayette FD, Sergeant | Apr 14, 2025 | 53 | Died on duty at Station 9 | NFFF | VERIFIED |
| Roy A. Smith | Centerpoint VFD, Asst. Chief | Apr 5, 2025 | 60 | Vehicle crash responding to 911 call | NFFF | VERIFIED |
Eight of the ten died in 2025, matching the count reported at the ceremony. Kenneth Caldwell died in 2024. Franklin Hardesty is a historical addition from 1947.
Individual Records
Scotty Lee Adams VERIFIED
- Rank / Department: Firefighter/EMT, Milton-Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department
- End of Watch: April 25, 2025 (age 47; born Feb. 21, 1979, Richmond, IN)
- Circumstances: Found unresponsive at home following his response to a motor vehicle accident. Nearly 20 years of service.
- Official record: National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
- News: WISH-TV, Sept. 11, 2026
Chad R. Butts CHECK
- Rank / Department: Firefighter, Princeton Fire Department (retired from a career of service)
- End of Watch: May 26, 2025 (age 62; born Jan. 11, 1963)
- Circumstances: Died at his home in Francisco, IN, with family present. Neither the obituary nor department announcements state a cause of death or the basis for the line-of-duty determination.
- Official record: No NFFF, USFA, or Supporting Heroes entry located as of Sept. 12, 2026.
- Sources: Princeton Daily Clarion obituary; Colvin Funeral Home obituary; Princeton Fire Department announcement (Facebook)
- What needs verification: The basis on which PFFUI classified this as a line-of-duty death (likely presumptive occupational illness). Identity as Chad Russell Butts of Princeton FD is supported by two independent obituaries.
Kenneth Caldwell VERIFIED
- Rank / Department: Firefighter, La Crosse Volunteer Fire Department (LaPorte County)
- End of Watch: June 6, 2024 (age 63; joined Aug. 1, 2001)
- Circumstances: Responded to a field fire the morning of June 6 and used rescue tools to cut through a fence for apparatus access. Returned to the station, cleaned equipment, and went home. Found deceased at home June 9 after missing a work detail and a call. Department classified the death as line-of-duty; Gov. Holcomb ordered flags to half-staff in LaPorte County.
- Official record: U.S. Fire Administration Firefighter Fatality Notice
- News: WISH-TV; Firehouse; NWI Times
- Note: Distinct from Assistant Chief Barrett J. Caldwell of Evansville FD, who is engraved on an earlier panel.
Donald E. “Hev” Caylor VERIFIED
- Rank / Department: Assistant Chief, Ridgeville Volunteer Fire Department (Randolph County)
- End of Watch: March 9, 2025 (age 66; born Dec. 22, 1958, Portland, IN; 40 years of service)
- Circumstances: Collapsed on the station floor at approximately 5:16 a.m. while gearing up to respond to a mobile-home fire. Found by fellow firefighters returning from the call. Believed cardiac.
- Official record: NFFF 2026 Remembrance Book (Indiana section); U.S. Fire Administration notice cited by WHIO and the Winchester News-Gazette
- News / obituary: MJS Mortuaries obituary; Fox59; WISH-TV; Firehouse
- Note: Press reports gave his age as both 61 and 66. The obituary’s date of birth makes 66 correct. Full name per obituary is Donald Eugene Caylor.
Lucas A. “Luke” Gehlhausen VERIFIED
- Rank / Department: Firefighter, Celestine Volunteer Fire Department (Dubois County)
- End of Watch: September 7, 2025 (age 41; 17 years of service)
- Circumstances: Responding in his personal vehicle to a reported structure fire at about 7:15 p.m. when he was killed in a single-vehicle crash. Gov. Braun declared a period of mourning in Dubois County.
- Official record: National Fallen Firefighters Foundation; U.S. Fire Administration Firefighter Fatality Notice
- News / obituary: Dubois County Free Press; Becher-Kluesner obituary; FireRescue1
Franklin “Bud” Hardesty CHECK
- Rank / Department: Fireman, Lizton-Union Township Volunteer Fire Department (Hendricks County)
- End of Watch: February 9, 1947
- Circumstances: The department, established in 1946, answered its first alarm at 12:25 p.m. on February 9, 1947. At 1:30 p.m. the same day it was called to a house fire at the Hattie Dowden farm. While attempting to cut electrical service to the house by scaling a power pole from a ground ladder, Fireman Hardesty was electrocuted. The State Fire Marshal ruled the death accidental. The investigation produced safety guidelines for operating near energized electrical service that the department says remain in force in revised form.
- Official record: None. NFFF’s database begins in 1981 and USFA’s in the 1990s. This is a historical addition recovered through research, in the same category as the 1899 Knightstown names added in 2023.
- Source: Lizton-Union Township VFD department history
- What needs verification: The department history refers to him only as “Bud Hardesty.” The given name “Franklin” comes from the ceremony list and has not been independently confirmed. A Hendricks County death record or 1947 newspaper account would close this.
Adam J. “Pugsley” Kuspa VERIFIED
- Rank / Department: Captain, Elkhart Fire Department (Elkhart Firefighters Local 338)
- End of Watch: January 6, 2025 (age 41; 19 years of service, joined 2006)
- Circumstances: Injured his knee stepping out of a ladder bucket during training at a theater demolition on October 26, 2024. Underwent surgery in December 2024. Died at home on January 6, 2025, from a pulmonary embolism during recovery. He had been promoted to captain about three weeks earlier. Served on the Tactical Rescue and Water Rescue teams and the Honor Guard.
- Official record: NFFF 2026 Remembrance Book (Indiana section)
- News: FirefighterNation (injury sequence); WNDU; ABC57; WTHR ceremony coverage, Sept. 11, 2026
James D. Mastison Jr. VERIFIED
- Rank / Department: Captain, Evansville Fire Department (served 1984–2019)
- End of Watch: February 16, 2025 (age 62)
- Circumstances: Occupational lung cancer. EFD dedicated a new Station 5 engine in his name on June 24, 2025.
- Official record: Supporting Heroes – Evansville Fire Department memorial roster
- News / obituary: Obituary; 14News / WFIE; WISH-TV, Sept. 11, 2026
- Note on the suffix: Ceremony coverage reported the name as “James D. Mastison” without a suffix. He is James D. Mastison Jr. His father, Captain James D. Mastison Sr. of the Evansville Fire Department, died in the line of duty on June 14, 1987 and is already engraved on the memorial. Father and son are both on the wall. Whether the new engraving carries “JR.” has not yet been confirmed in person.
John G. Robinson VERIFIED
- Rank / Department: Sergeant, Lafayette Fire Department (joined 1995)
- End of Watch: April 14, 2025 (age 53; born July 21, 1971, Lafayette)
- Circumstances: Died while on duty at LFD Station 9.
- Official record: National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
- News: WISH-TV, Sept. 11, 2026 (listed as “John Robinson” without middle initial)
Roy A. Smith VERIFIED
- Rank / Department: Assistant Chief, EMT, and Treasurer, Centerpoint Volunteer Fire Department (Clay County); joined 1991
- End of Watch: April 5, 2025 (age 60; born Oct. 7, 1964, Terre Haute)
- Circumstances: Single-vehicle crash on State Road 42 while responding to a 911 call in Posey Township. Also served more than 20 years on the Center Point Town Board and as town marshal.
- Official record: National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
- News: Tribune-Star (via Yahoo)
Cross-Reference Notes
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation honored seven Indiana firefighters at its May 2026 memorial weekend: Donald Caylor, Lucas Gehlhausen, Tracy L. Hayden, Adam Kuspa, Mark W. Rapp, John G. Robinson, and Roy A. Smith. Five of those seven are among the ten added to the state memorial this year. Mark Rapp (IFD, EOW March 4, 2022) was added to the state memorial in 2023.
Tracy L. Hayden CHECK — Lieutenant and Division Chief of Fire and Life Safety, Decatur Township Fire Department. End of watch November 9, 2019, age 38, from leukemia attributed to chemical exposure at an October 2015 hazmat fire. The first line-of-duty death in Decatur Township’s history. He was honored nationally by NFFF in 2026 but does not appear in the 2026 state list. Because he died in 2019 he may have been added at the 2021 state ceremony, which included deferred 2019 deaths, on a panel not yet photographed for this project. His presence or absence on the memorial is unconfirmed. Sources: WTHR; obituary.
Open Items
- Photograph all ten new engravings and reconcile spelling, initials, and suffixes against this page.
- Butts: obtain the line-of-duty classification basis from PFFUI or Princeton FD.
- Hardesty: confirm the given name “Franklin” from a Hendricks County record or 1947 newspaper.
- Mastison: confirm “JR.” appears on the new engraving.
- Hayden: determine whether he is already engraved on a panel not yet photographed.
- Capture the direct USFA notice URL for Caylor.
Last updated September 12, 2026. Corrections and additional documentation are welcome through the contact page.