Playground Dedicated to Baltimore's First Fallen Female FF

April 17, 2022
Fifteen years after she died, the Racheal Wilson Memorial Park and Playground was dedicated on the site where the training death happened.

A playground was dedicated Thursday to Racheal Wilson, a Baltimore firefighter recruit who died during a training fire 15 years ago.

The Racheal Wilson Memorial Park and Playground was built at 145 S. Calverton Road - the site where Wilson died Feb. 9, 2007.

"I'm the daughter of Racheal Wilson. It is an honor to build her this playground and show her how much I do love her as her child," Princess Davis, Wilson's daughter, told WMAR.

The park has is designed to have a fire truck-shaped playground, a large fire helmet and a wall bordering the park has a mural depicting Wilson.

"It took me fifteen years to get it off the ground. When this young lady died, it took everything out of me because I can't believe that she died in a house that was empty," said Jerlene Boyd, creator of Wilson Park.

Wilson was the first female firefighter to die in the line-of-duty in Baltimore and the first African American woman firefighter to die on-duty in Maryland.

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