VIDEO: Tuesday evening hundreds in the Plainville community remembered the life and service of firefighter Ray Moreau, who died while fighting a house fire on Sunday. Since then, fire departments all around the state have offered a helping hand with protecting the town while Moreauโs firefighting brothers and sisters grieve.
โYouโd be surprised how quick members from all departments will organize with apparatus and members to cover at a time like this,โ said Cpt. Kirk Rosemond, Newington Fire Department. โA lot of guys have no problem leaving at the end of their work shift, going, grabbing their gear, hopping in a fire piece and supporting something like this. Thatโs our show of support to our fellow brothers and sisters when they need us. Just call us, weโre there.โ
โWhen we were there Monday, we were there with Colchester, Bristol and Southington,โ said Assistant Chief Anthony Dignoti, Wethersfield Fire Department. Itโs a feeling all too familiar in Wethersfield. Last October, volunteer firefighter Robert Sharkevich Sr. died while fighting a wild fire on Lamentation Mountain in Berlin. โWe jumped into action. I sent an email out looking for our members to assist and the amount of people who volunteered to come out was overwhelming. Our troops wanted to help because again, they knew exactly how the members of Plainville felt,โ Dignoti said.
It was that shared experience that helped Plainville firefighters begin to heal. โWe found just getting them together at the fire station just to talk and grieve together helped us get through this difficult time. When I was there Monday in Plainville, there was a lot of that going on,โ said Dignoti.
Moreauโs funeral is scheduled for Saturday. โNewington will be supporting Friday and Saturday,โ said Rosemond. โWe are like brothers, brothers and sisters. Weโre very close here. Itโs an occupation that you work as a team constantly,โ added Dignoti.
