6.14.2026 Fall River Firefighter Memorial

Uh I'm sure some of you have been here before. Uh for those who haven't, this is a day that we honor the firefighters that made the ultimate sacrifice. Um their names are on the bell. So, it's a really important day for us and I really thank all of you for coming here, especially the families of the uh names on the bell. Uh, I'd like to bring up fire um father racing for the prayer.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, we come on this Memorial Sunday in remembrance of those who have given their lives in the line of duty for the Fore River Fire Department.

Each individual person is significant as they went to their reward, saving this city by protecting not only property but life.

We remember their leadership and their dedication. and love of being a Fall River firefighter.

We read in scripture from St. John, "No one has a greater love than this, but to lay down one's life for one's friend.

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain."

Today we remember that love and the giving of life to service in this department of river.

Give them and all firefighters across our nation who today we remember the light, joy, and peace in your presence.

In our prayers today, we also remember all of our retired firefighters as well as all who have been called home to their eternal reward, particularly those since last year's ceremony.

Finally, we ask you, Lord, to continue to protect and guide and watch over our firefighters who carry the legacy and dream of saving lives each day.

Thank you, Fatherine. Uh for those who can, please stand for the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I'd like to call to the podium um Mayor Coogan.

First of all, I want to thank everybody for this tremendous turnout today. Our four river fire department to me is considered one of the best in the state and their job focuses solely on exactly the division they're listed under, public safety. The gentlemen on this monument have given the ultimate sacrifice to keep all of us safe and to make sure the city functions as a safe, prosperous place for everyone that lives

here. I commend these men every single day and I appreciate their service to this community. Thank you for having me here today.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, next like to call Chief Bacon.

Just want to start by thanking everybody for being here today.

To our firefighters, retirees, Mayor Coogan, members of the city council, our local delegation, public safety partners, and everyone from the community who joins us each year.

Thank you for taking the time to be here.

Most importantly, thank you to the loved ones, family members, and friends of the firefighters whose names are engraved on this monument. We gather today because of them and because of the sacrifices they and their families made in service to the city of Fall River.

As I was preparing my marks for my remarks for today, my wife Ma and I were talking about this ceremony and what it means.

As we talked, she kept coming back to a simple thought. Why are we here?

At first, the answer seems obvious.

We're here for our annual ceremony. We gather in front of this monument to honor the firefighters whose names are etched in stone behind me. But the more we thought about it, the more we realized that each of us may be here for a very different reason.

Some are here because they worked alongside one or more of the firefighters and can't imagine being anywhere else on Memorial Sunday.

Some are here because one of these names belongs to a father, grandfather, brother, uncle, or friend.

Some are here because they wear the uniform today and understand that the department we inherited was built by the firefighters who came before us.

And some are here because they believe that a community should never forget those who gave their lives in service to others.

All of those reasons matter.

The truth is that remembering isn't just about looking backward. It's also about carrying something forward. For many of the firefighters we honor today, we know the circumstances that led to their deaths. We know the incidents they responded to. We know the dangers they faced. And in many cases, we know the lessons that were learned because of their sacrifice.

Those lessons have shaped the fire service we know today. They have influenced our training, our equipment, our tactics, and the way we approach firefighter safety.

Their legacy isn't found only in photographs, newspaper articles, or names carved into stone. It's found in the knowledge they leave behind and in the responsibility we have to pass that knowledge on to the next generation.

Remembering them means more than honoring their sacrifice. It means making sure that sacrifice continues to have purpose.

This year, our memorial grows by two names. And that's never an easy thing to say.

Every time a name is added to this monument, it represents a family that suffered a loss, a department that lost one of its own, and a community that lost someone who dedicated part of their lives to serving others.

Today, we honor firefighter Edward Burke, Senior, and Lieutenant Michael Leage, as they take their place among the firefighters remembered here.

Firefighter Burke, I'll give them a minute to make some noise.

Firefighter Burke served the Fall River Fire Department for more than 20 years.

He worked on several companies throughout the city and earned recognition for his courage and dedication to the job. On May 25th, 1980, after completing his shift, he suffered a fatal cardiac emergency while traveling home from work. His service to this department continued through his son, Teddy Burke, who followed his father's footsteps and served the citizens of Fall River for 35 years

before retiring. Teddy is here today.

He's one of our most active retirees. He never gave up on getting his dad's name on this monument, and I hope today brings the closure that his family so richly deserves.

And then there's Lieutenant Mike Big Red Leage.

Many of us don't need a biography to remember Mike Leage. We remember the stories, the conversations around the kitchen table, and the passion he brought to everything he did. Mike served this city for more than 30 years as a firefighter and lieutenant. But what made him unique was how deeply he cared about preserving the history of this department.

Much of what we know about the firefighters who came before us remains preserved because Mike took the time to make sure it would be. It's hard not to appreciate the fact that a man who spent so much of his life making sure others would never be forgotten now has his own name added to this memorial.

I don't think Mike would have wanted us spending too much t time talking about him. He'd probably rather we be talking about the museum, the department, or one of the firefighters whose story he worked so hard to preserve. But that's exactly why he belongs here. Because Memorial Sunday is about remembering people who left this department better than they found it, and Lieutenant Leage did exactly that.

Today, we add these names to the memorial, but more importantly, we add them to the stories we continue to tell.

President Franklin Roosevelt speaking at the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights said, and think about this. Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them. I think there's a lesson in there for us this morning. It doesn't take long for people to begin taking things for granted. the training we receive, the equipment we use, the

safety practices we follow, the traditions we inherit.

Over time, they simply become the way things are. But many of those things exist because firefighters before us paid a price. Some of the lessons that guide us today were written in tragedy.

Some of the practices that protect us today were born from sacrifice.

That's the reason we're here. Not only to remember these firefighters, but to remember what they continue to teach us.

As the years pass, fewer and fewer people remain who personally knew some of the firefighters we honor today.

That's simply the reality of time. But memory doesn't survive because of time.

Memory survives because people make the choice to remember. That's what we're doing here this morning.

We're remembering the men behind the names. We're honoring the families who carried on after unimaginable loss. And we're recommitting ourselves to carrying their stories and their lessons forward.

Because if we truly want to honor these firefighters, we can't simply remember how they died. We have to remember how they lived, why they served, and why they continue to teach us the things they do. That is why we're here. And as long as we continue to gather, continue to tell their stories, and continue to learn from their sacrifice, they will never be forgotten. For the families we remember, for the department we

remember. For the city they served, we remember, and we always will. Thank you.

William C. Buckley, Robert T. Mitchell, Arthur C. Lovevenberry, Edward W. Shaw, James F. McCabe, Captain James Martin Blackburn, Michael P. Malarkey, Edward J. Rainey, James E. Eastwood John R. Clifford Walter J. Petrusca Francis J. Candas John Koser Ernest J. Dubbie Senior Paul R. Bernard Gerald W. NATO Albert E. Meansen Paul E. Chippendale Robert E. Carvalo John Pachico Jr.

John J. Sylvia Dennis E. Matthew Adam C. Franco Edward P. Burke Senior Michael R. Leage.

One of the other things we do here today is we remember the firefighters who retired, who passed not in the line of duty, but who are no longer with us since last year's ceremony. And we'll ring the bell once after I read all of their names.

Firefighter William Taylor, firefighter Jimmy Smith, firefighter Keith Cashman, firefighter Thomas Sors, Lieutenant Thomas Moore, and Lieutenant Michael Leage.

In the days before the present system of dispatching apparatus from the station to an alarm by means of a claxon andor tone, the Fall River Fire Department utilized a bell system. This bell system in conjunction with call boxes located in buildings and on street corners alerted the dispatchers at fire alarm headquarters as to the location of the alarm. The dispatchers in turn sounded a

series of strikes on the dispatch bell corresponding to the number on the call box which was activated.

Each station would receive the series of strikes and the apparatus in whose area the alarm originated would then proceed to the site of the alarm.

Upon completion of this response and the apparatus returning to quarters, a series of strikes on the dispatch bell was sounded in all stations to inform all firefighters on duty that the incident was over and the responding personnel were returning to quarters.

The sequence of strikes used was 55 and five. Thus, the bell before you today being used to commemorate this past practice and being previously employed on an engine company in this city will be struck on firefighters memorial Sunday with the sequence 555 in memory of all departed firefighters and especially to the memory of the firefighters who died in the line of duty. This action will tell these men

that the fire is out, all clear, return to quarters and welcome home.

Detail.

Present arms.

home.

I'd like to bring our fire chaplain, Father Rim, back up for the firefighters prayer.

When I am called to duty, God, wherever flames may rage, give me strength to save a life, whatever be its age.

Help me to embrace a little child before it's too late or save an older person from the horror of that fate.

enable me to be alert, to hear the weakest shout, and to quickly and efficiently to put the fire out.

I want to fill my calling and give it my best in me to guard my neighbor and protect his property.

And if according to your will I have to lose my life, bless with your protecting hand my loving family from strife.

Thank you, father.

This is going to conclude our firefighter memorial Sunday ceremony. I thank all of you coming uh especially the families.

The the the showing that we have today is remarkable and it's really about the families of the firefighters that are on the bell. We're not honor only honoring uh those men. We're honoring the families uh to show that we're still here. We still care. And I want to thank my brother firefighters um who always make me look good when they turn out like this. Um after this we're having our uh breakfast at the

Atlantic restaurant in uh Tivven on Chauve Street. And you all are welcome.

Again, thank you all for coming.

Detail dismissed.