New Jersey Fire Truck Memorial Honoring Fallen Vandalized

May 22, 2003
A wooden fire truck placed in a park in Mount Ephraim, New Jersey to honor two firefighters who died in the line of duty last July, was found defaced and vandalized shortly after the April 19 dedication

A wooden fire truck placed in a park in Mount Ephraim, New Jersey to honor two firefighters who died in the line of duty last July, was found defaced and vandalized shortly after the April 19 dedication. Mt. Ephraim FD Fire Chief James Sylvester and Deputy Chief John D. West were the two firefighters being remembered.

Shining Star Park was created and dedicated to Christine Eberle, a local woman who was murdered in November 2001, according to Mt. Ephraim Police Captain Brian Beppel. Deputy Chief West and Chief Sylvester had fought an 8-alarm fire on July 4, 2002 alongside firefighter Thomas Stewart of the Gloucester City FD and who also died that day. Most people in the Mount Ephraim knew and understood the importance of this memorial. According to Beppel it appears that the community is upset with the incidents. "In fact, the town is only one square mile and only has 5,000 residents. That's how small it is," he said.

Vandalism has occurred on a number of occasions within the park since the installation of the wooden playground equipment fire truck. The fire truck with memorial plaques stating that it was dedicated to Mount Ephraim firefighters, included a emergency light that was found broken. One of the two children's benches inside the truck was collapsed. Beppel speculated someone jumped on it. There was graffiti, including some profanity, found scrawled inside the cab-part of the truck. However when asked, Beppel said there was no graffiti that said anything against the fire department. There were wooden fire extinguishers that were hanging on the outside of the truck that were removed from the truck sometime since last Friday according to Beppel. At the front of the windshield there was a cast iron bracket with a bell hanging from it. Recently the bracket was broken off and the bell was lost or stolen. The public works department had to come to the park to fix some of the sharp edges and remove screws left behind after items were ripped from the truck.

There was also vandalism found within the rest of the park. On the basketball court the whole backboard and rim of the basketball hoop were taken off and on a suspended bridge, a broken plank was found Beppel said. He added that this is an ongoing criminal investigation and there are no particular suspects involved.

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