An Indiana fire department dedicated a new apparatus after a veteran firefighter who died earlier this year.
In a ceremony Monday at the department's Station No. 1, the Evansville Fire Department paid tribute to Capt. Jim Pauli Jr. by permanently displaying his name on either side of its new 2019 Pierce apparatus. Pauli, 51, was a 28-year veteran with the department who suffered a fatal medical emergency in February.
“He was a very big advocate of volunteering and helping anybody who needed help,” Division Chief Mike Larson told WEHT-TV. “And I would get a call, just, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ And I would try to help him. No way I could keep up with him, because his heart was a big as this big red truck and would do anything for anyone.”
The dedication continues a tradition for the department and the Pauli family. Pauli's father, Jim Sr., also was memorialized with an apparatus in April 1974, WEHT added.
