A statue rises in honor of Brockton firefighters killed in '41

Last survivor joins tribute to the 13 dead

BROCKTON - Retired Brockton fire chief Edward Burrell tipped his hat at the conclusion of yesterday's ceremony in memory of the city's fallen firefighters. At 93, Burrell is the last living survivor of the Strand Theatre blaze that killed 13 firefighters in 1941, and he finally saw his comrades memorialized with a 10-foot bronze statue built in their honor.

The statue is of a firefighter kneeling in grief, with the names of the 13 dead engraved on a base alongside "A Fireman's Prayer."

"It brings back a lot of memories when you see the names there," said Burrell, who had been on the force for two years when he responded to the blaze at the Strand, located about 100 feet from the City Hall amphitheater where the memorial now stands. "I never thought I'd live long enough to see it."

But Brockton's firefighters never forgot. And hundreds of firefighters, dignitaries, and descendants of the 13 applauded as Burrell and others removed a red cloak from the statue, letting it take its place in City Hall Plaza as a reminder of the tragic night.

"This tragedy forever defines the history of the Brockton Fire Department," said Fire Chief Kenneth F. Galligan. "This memorial will provide solace to the family members of the deceased."

The fatalities are among the largest losses of firefighter lives in one incident in US history. The 13 were killed when the roof of the Strand collapsed onto the balcony where they were stationed.

Twenty other firefighters were injured.

A cause of the fire was never determined. The theater, next to City Hall, had closed for the night, and two custodians sounded a box alarm just after midnight March 10 after seeing the fire in the basement. The blaze apparently spread through the walls and into the ceiling.

Investigators believed the heat distorted steel trusses above the ceiling, pushing the brick walls of the theater back and allowing the roof to collapse.

With today's technology, the approach to attacking the fire, and perhaps the outcome, would have been different.

The Fire Department in those days had no communication devices. Firefighters had no breathing apparatus and no thermal imaging cameras.

And so the men were remembered for their bravery.

"Fire services today is made up of men and women willing to sacrifice their lives to protect many others," said state Fire Marshal Stephen Coan.

No one has been able to explain why it took so long to build the memorial. The general belief is that Brockton, and the country, had its grief distracted by the onslaught of World War II months after with the attack on Pearl Harbor.

But the city held a remembrance ceremony on each anniversary, paying tribute by visiting a small anthracite coal memorial a firefighter from Pennsylvania crafted in the months after the fire as a gift to Brockton.

The coal monument still sits in City Hall.

But seven years ago a committee of firefighters and citizens organized to remember the night with a larger statue at the footsteps of City Hall. They raised $150,000 by holding raffles and potluck dinners.

"Even though this has been a long time in the making, our 13 brother firefighters were never forgotten," said Fire Lieutenant Richard Baker, a cochairman of the memorial committee.

Yesterday's ceremony was filled with all the pomp and circumstance that would be expected for a memorial that was 67 years in the making, with a bagpipe band and the Honor Guard.

Even firefighters from Scranton, Pa., made the trip, keeping the link between the two cities that was established with the coal memorial.

Mary Welch of Easton said her mother had been waiting in hope for the memorial, to finally see a tribute to her grandfather.

Margaret O'Brien Moore was 20 when her father, Daniel O'Brien, was killed in the blaze.

She was at the ceremony yesterday, at 87 years old, holding a red carnation and a picture of her father. And she wore a badge bearing the number her father wore, 93.

"It's quite a tribute," Moore said.

Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.