Darian Stevenson
syracuse.com
(TNS)
Syracuse, N.Y. — A single bell tolled 45 times at the Firefighter Memorial Park Monday, honoring each Syracuse firefighter who has died in the line of duty.
The Syracuse Fire Department, elected official, and community members gathered to mark the 86th anniversary of the Collins Block fire in the Firefighter Memorial Park. The fire on Feb 3, 1939, is the deadliest in Syracuse history. Nine firefighters died when the roof of a cellar collapsed in the building at 225 E. Genesee St.
“Today is a good day to get together and remember the fallen firefighters and make a day that was one of the worst in our history and turn it into a day of unity and gratitude,” Monds said.
A group of the department’s new recruits were also lined up in the park. The group of 28 — who will graduate in May — watched Mayor Ben Walsh and Fire Chief Michael Monds lead the ceremony acknowledging the 45 firefighters who have lost their lives in service to their community.
“We bring the recruits to understand what’s going on when the names of past firefighters are read and that they died doing the same thing they’re training for,” Monds said. “We want them and their family to understand the significance of the oath that they’re taking and the job that they’re getting ready to perform.”
Each of the firefighters who have died in the line of duty are memorialized with their name engraved on one of two stone tablets. In the center of the memorial stands a stone firefighter with the names of those who died in the Collins Block fire underneath.
The 25th anniversary of the last firefighter death in the Syracuse community was on January 19. In 1999, James McGroarty, a member of the Fire Investigation Bureau, was killed when a chimney fell on him while he was determining the cause of a fire.
Each year the list of names is called out and a memorial bell is rung once for each name. All the firefighters in attendance, including the new recruits, saluted while the names were read.
The 28 recruits for the class of 2025 are:
- Andres Abadie
- Maurice Ahearn
- Shaiquan Baggett
- Jason Baird
- Jacob Barclay
- Brandon Belleville
- Reed Black
- Emilio Booker
- Christopher Burns
- Collin Cacchione
- Emmanuel Chanelo
- Luke DiPirro
- Othman El-Hindi
- Connor Ellsworth
- Joshua Grass
- Jack Hamilton
- Aaron Lahart
- Gavan Liston
- Joshua Mims
- Aidan Murphy
- Ryan O’Neill
- Ethan Thompson
- Matthew Viel
- Jeremy Warters
- Michael Whitney
- Kyler Wilbur
- Trevon Williams
- Luke Zingaro
Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com
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