After one of its own was killed in the line of duty, the Town of Irmo is considering a new memorial.

On June 6, at its regularly scheduled workshop, Irmo Town Council discussed a first responders memorial to be built in the town. The discussion followed the death of firefighter James Michael Muller, 25, who was killed in a massive multi-alarm apartment fire in Columbia on May 26.

He is the first firefighter in the history of the Irmo Fire District, which dates back to 1963, to lose his life in the line of duty and the first firefighter in the state to die in the line this year.

“[First responders are] one of our most visible assets for our community,” Town Administrator Courtney Dennis said. “[We] recognize that and then secondly, obviously, we saw the cost of public safety and first responders with the loss of firefighter Muller.”

Council decided that the next step regarding the memorial is to set up a committee. According to Dennis, the town hopes to have representatives from first responder agencies, citizens and staff on the committee.

Dennis told the Chronicle that the committee will be responsible for presenting ideas for the memorial to council. Currently, there are no set plans for the memorial, but ideas including a reflection pool and a statue have been brought forth, among others.

“There's numerous men and women that dedicate their lives as a first responder and the costs are pretty heavy for that service,” Dennis said.

The town administrator called the emergency services who cover Irmo one of the town’s greatest assets.

“We have a great police force, we’ve got a great fire district in the area,” he said. “And it takes a group effort to be efficient. We rely on our police department and our fire district or Lexington and Richland County EMS services, we rely on mutual aid of the Lexington fire department and the Columbia-Richland Fire Department. So there’s a lot of first responders and public safety that work in this area and I think provide great services to the citizens around here.”

The idea of the town memorializing Muller has been in the air since shortly after the fire that took Muller’s life, with Irmo Mayor Barry Walker first saying the town intended to honor him with a service in a statement issued after the firefighter’s death.

"As a respected member of the Irmo Fire Department, Firefighter J. Michael Muller played a pivotal role in safeguarding our community from the perils of fire and other emergencies,” Walker said in his statement. “His commitment to public safety was unparalleled, and his actions will be remembered as a testament to his heroism and unwavering dedication to duty."