OTTAWA - A lone bronze firefighter will stand above the site of the great Lebreton fire of 1900 in Ottawa, ready to usher the fallen home to heaven.

The 15-foot figure centres what will be the national monument to fallen firefighters, standing next to a huge fireman's pole, which extends skyward.

Visitors are to imagine the firefighter sliding down the pole to Earth to collect the fallen.

Around the firefighter is a granite and bronze abstract depiction of Canada - the concept of renowned Canadian artist and author Douglas Coupland, who worked with Plant Architect Inc. on the parklike design.

Coupland said this description, however poetic, wasn't his initial concept.

He was told to come up with something "not American looking, big-C Canadian", so he incorporated a Group Of Seven-ish pine tree, made of brass.

Worried that the tree would serve as a "lightning magnet", Coupland decided the monument required a lightning rod - that's when the idea for the pole hit him, well, like a bolt of lightning.

Real fire pole measurements were gathered, which showed the average height is 38 feet.

That's how high the one at the monument will be.

"It's quite humbling. I really threw my brains at it," Coupland said from his home in Vancouver.

More than 1,000 Canadian firefighters have died in the line of duty since records have been kept.

The Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation (CFFF) has been working towards the goal of building a national memorial for seven years. It will be ready in March 2012.

Firefighters from across the country - all members of the CFFF - converged at the NCC's Info Centre across from the Peace Tower Thursday morning to witness the unveiling.

They agree the wait for such a monument speaks to the character of firefighters themselves.

"Sometimes firefighters don't necessarily want to be publicly recognized," said Bruce Rushton, a chaplain with the Vancouver Fire Dept.

He said the monument is really more for firefighters' families.

"It's extremely important," said Wayne Jasper of the Victoria Fire Department. "We're probably the only group that doesn't have a national monument. This is certainly going to change all that and it will be a nice place for families to come and get some closure."