Nov. 2 -- CLEVELAND -- Part of the memorial that honors Cleveland firefighters killed in the line of duty was dismantled Friday morning to repair cracks in the fiberglass sculpture.
The Cleveland Fire Fighters Memorial has been on display outside FirstEnergy Stadium and the Great Lakers Science Center since 2007. The colorful sculpture, designed by the late artist Luis Jimenez, depicts firefighters aiming their hoses at three large flames.
Cracks appeared on the firefighters over the last decade, said Peter Jedick, a retired Cleveland Fire Department lieutenant and former president of the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Fund. A crane removed the figures Friday morning.
The repairs should be completed before next year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, Jedick said.
The memorial includes the names of 77 firefighters killed or fatally injured in the line of duty since 1869. It serves as a reminder of the sacrifice firefighters make for the public, retired Cleveland Fire Chief Walt Zimmerer said Friday.
“Anytime you lose a firefighter in the line of duty, it’s very hard,” Zimmerer said. “It reminds you how dangerous the job is.”
Jedick and Zimmerer recalled the death of Daniel R. Pescatrice, who became trapped while fighting a fire at the Milner Electric Company building on New Year’s Eve in 1985. Pescatrice was separated from other firefighters that night, and he was overcome by flames, they said.
“I worked with him when I was younger, so he’s the name I read [on the memorial] and I remember him,” Jedick said.
Pescatrice’s death contributed to city officials' decision to buy Personal Alert Safety System devices, which firefighters use to call for help in burning buildings or other dangerous situations, Zimmerer said.
The repairs are possible thanks to a fundraising campaign that began last year. The campaign has raised more than $46,000 of its $50,000 goal, largely through current firefighters donating several dollars at a time from their paychecks, Jedick said.
More than 500 current firefighters made donations for the repairs, Jedick said.
Sam Miller, currently the co-chairman emeritus of Forest City Enterprises, provided an initial $10,000 donation for the repairs. Miller also provided $50,000 of the original $500,000 cost to build the memorial a decade ago.
Cleveland-based ICA Art Conservation is repairing the cracks in the memorial. Its designer, Jimenez, died before he could finish the memorial, so the work on the firefighters was never completed properly, Jedick and Zimmerer said.
It will likely be another 25 years before the memorial needs additional repairs.
“They say it should be good for a long time now,” Jedick said.
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