LODD

***From the Fire Chief’s Desk***

In Memory of Zachary Paris

You walked into our station on January 15, 2003 to follow your heart in the need to serve and help others in their time of need. A volunteer Junior Firefighter and fellow brother for the Blandon Fire Company that served within our company till 2010. Your dedication that you put forth towards each and every call no matter the type, riding your bike to the engine room with gear in hand and readiness to assist in any manner needed. The willingness to learn and put forth your best effort to pursue the dreams of serving others. The friendships built, part of our family, and the achievement of becoming the professional firefighter you always dreamed of. We will always remember the times we all shared with you on calls and just hanging at the fire station on training nights. You will forever be remembered in our hearts and thank you for playing a part in making our Company what we are today. We will miss your dearly and we will take it from here. -Chief Daniel Miller.

Below is a poem written by a fellow Blandon Firefighter, Walter Nott, who has since passed:

Burying the Fire Chief

“I would have expected soot and dirt,
instead of funeral talc,
to clog the lines and pits of your face –
obituary to November.
Cries and wet hallway garbage,
the white shirt is less demanding than denim,
and leaves the spirits of blackened closets and
body-bags,
outside to slander the streets and alleys
unreckoned:
defying the red-eyed clique of warm blood and
breath.
Too easy to believe the rosary beads,
and hands a final acceptance of crackled brown
flesh –
Better to have sent you home a stinging bell of
defiance,
lengths of two-and-a-half swaddling your hands,
ash under the nails,
face brushed with soot and dirt of your siren yell.”

In Memory of Zachary T.A. Paris – Dedicated Fire Fighter with The New Tripoli Fire Company