VIDEO: For the first time in its 70-year history, Station 14 has lost a firefighter in the line of duty. Ed Margavich, a lifelong member of the Croydon Fire Company, died last week at the age of 80 after injuries sustained while responding to a fire. Outside the firehouse, the flag flies at half-staff. A memorial sits at the front steps, where members of the community have begun leaving flowers. Parked outside the bay doors is his personal car, fire-truck red. “It’s a big loss for us, it really is,” said Joe Gasper, the department’s public information officer. Margavich answered his final alarm just before dawn on Friday, August 8. Around 5:30 a.m., he joined firefighters battling a van fire that spread to a nearby home in Croydon, a blaze later determined to be arson. Margavich and two other firefighters were injured. While directing traffic at the scene, Margavich returned to the firehouse to gather equipment. Inside, he fell and broke his femur.
