The fallen firefighters memorial today was very moving. TVF&R was well represented; we had the 1918 American LaFrance and Chief Almquist and his crew brought Engine 333. As an added coincidence, I happen to have in my collection one of the two brass plaques that adorned the sides of Salems first first aid car. I inherited the plaque upon the death of my best friend Mike Schlag; he had donated its mate to be displayed in the state capitol building. This first aid car was bought and put into service in honor of Floyd McMullen. He was a Willamette University student, and a volunteer firefighter with Salem at old Station 3; on the night of April 25th, 1935, he responded to the fire which destroyed the old Oregon State Capitol building. While fighting the fire, a stone cornice fell from one of the walls, crushing and killing McMullen. He was the only casualty of the fire. Anyway, I took the plaque down to display at the memorial, and got a picture of the plaque next to Floyds name on the Memorial Wall. I was impressed with the memorial service, and pleased that so many people from the military, the fire service, the various law enforcement agencies, the forestry service, etc., were in attendance. Anyway, here are a couple of pics from today.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 03:12:59 +0000
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