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1 City of Lewiston Press Release Members of the Media: Below please find a press release highlighting a Lewiston firefighters memorial that will be dedicated at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 22nd, at Lewiston’s Central Station, College Street. The release also contains brief bios on the nine firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty. Any media coverage you could render would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dottie PRESS RELEASE October 18, 2011 CONTACT: Dottie Perham-Whittier Community Relations Coordinator City of Lewiston FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 513-3000, X3205 TTY/TDD: 513-3007 www.lewistonmaine.gov LEWISTON: "We just wanted to do something for these guys," said Rick Cailler, a Lewiston firefighter and President of the Lewiston Firefighters Association, as he reflected upon a stone monument memorial that will be dedicated in front of the City's Central Fire Station on College Street at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 22nd. Cailler notes that two firefighters lost their lives when a wall collapsed during the Callahan Block fire of 1909. Two others passed away when Lewiston and Auburn fire trucks collided at Auburn's Court and Main Streets; and two others were run over. Another two lost their lives to heart attacks, and one was thrown off a ladder during a building collapse. For at least 25 years, the names of the nine fallen firefighters have been listed on a plaque hanging inside Central Station, but about a year ago, Lewiston firefighters decided they wanted a larger, more public memorial. Cailler pointed out that they'd annually honored the 343 New York firefighters killed on September, 11, 2001, "Yet we never really remembered our own." When the anniversary of the 1982 death of Lewiston firefighter Gerard Desjardins came and went without acknowledgement, Lewiston firefighters decided it was time to create a monument to all of the Lewiston firefighters who had died in the line of duty. "It's something that's well overdue," Cailler continued. "It's honoring guys who sacrificed their lives and their families who gave up a loved one to protect the citizens of Lewiston." ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 Desjardin's daughter, Chris Malinowski, was 20 when her father was run over by a Fire Department vehicle while answering a false alarm. She'd grown up going to the fire station. "It's like another family, and I still feel that bond with the Fire Department today. They bond. They're there for each other," she said. Malinowski welcomed the idea of a large, public monument honoring all the City's fallen firefighters, including her father. “They're in it for the community, for the people around them, and for each other," she added. "It's really nice they'll be memorialized." The two-and-a-half ton granite monument stands more than seven feet tall and more than six feet wide and is engraved with the names of the nine Lewiston firefighters killed in the line of duty over the last century. The monument was created by Collette Monuments in Lewiston and was paid for by Lewiston Firefighters Association membership dues. The nine firefighters listed on the memorial are (provided by Lewiston Fire Department): * Capt. Phillippe Bazinet, 42. Born in Tabaskaville, Canada, he joined the department in 1900 and had been a captain on the Hose Company No. 4. He died on Dec. 24, 1909, when a wall collapsed at the Callahan Block fire at 274 Lisbon St. * Thomas King, 28. He had been a substitute firefighter for a few weeks when, on Dec. 24, 1909, he was killed when a wall collapsed at the Callahan Block fire at 274 Lisbon St. * Pvt. John B. Byrne, born in 1872 in County Kerry, Ireland. He joined the department in 1904 and became a clerk of Hose Company No. 1. He was thrown off a ladder and into the street on Feb. 8, 1910, during a building collapse at Main and Middle Streets. He died on Feb. 15 from his injuries. * Pvt. Marcien Vallee, 27. Born in Lewiston in 1922, he was a veteran of WWII and joined the Lewiston Fire Department in 1948. He died on July 7, 1949, when Lewiston and Auburn fire trucks collided at Court and Main Streets in Auburn as both fire departments responded to a fire alarm. Another firefighter and an Auburn policeman directing traffic were also killed and several others were injured. * Capt. Russell Tarr, 48. Born in Lewiston in 1901, he became a permanent member of the department in 1938 and was a captain at the time of his death. He died on July 7, 1949, when Lewiston and Auburn fire trucks collided at Court and Main Streets in Auburn. ---PAGE BREAK--- 3 * Capt. Willie Mailhot, 60. Born in Lewiston in 1904, he became a permanent firefighter in 1938 and was a captain at the time of his death. He was run over by a Fire Department vehicle at a fire on Lowell Street on May 2, 1965. * Private Paul Nadeau, born in 1913. He died of a heart attack on April 30, 1966, in the fire station, after battling fire at the Exchange Hotel on Chapel Street. * Lt. Emilien Couture, born in 1926. He died of a heart attack while fighting a fire on Byron Avenue in 1967. * Pvt. Gerard Desjardins, 35. He died on Sept. 8, 1982, when he was run over by a fire department vehicle while answering a false alarm.