Simple memorials to two Lewiston firefighters who died in the line of duty hang on a lamp pole on the Longley Memorial Bridge. The markers honor Pvt. Marcien Vallee, 27, and Capt. Russell Tarr, 48, who lost their lives on July 7, 1949, when Lewiston and Auburn firetrucks collided at Court and Main streets in Auburn while responding to a fire alarm. The collision also claimed the life of an Auburn policeman, who is memorialized nearby. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Lewiston Fire Department Capt. Russell Tarr, who was died on July 7, 1949, when two firetrucks slammed into each other at the intersection of Main and Court streets in Auburn. Lewiston Daily Sun

Stand on the corner of Court and Main streets in Auburn and you’ll find nary an indication of any kind of trouble.

Midday traffic buzzes by, stopping and starting as the traffic lights command. Pedestrians brush by you, on their way for drinks at the clubs or to the offices farther down Main Street.

Everywhere you look is smoothly moving commerce and busy people on the go. No sign of horror or danger or sorrow.

But if stand in just the right spot and look near the end of the Longley Bridge, you’ll see it. A short distance from the intersection of Main and Court streets, up on one of the light poles, are markers that nudge our attention back to a specific day nearly eight decades past.

On the markers above the street are two names: Lewiston Fire Capt. Russell Tarr and Pvt. Marcien Vallee, a pair of firefighters who were killed on the corner July 7, 1949, when two firetrucks slammed into each other at high speed.

That crash also claimed the life of Auburn police Officer Norman Philbrick, making it the deadliest day ever for public safety officers in the Twin Cities.

The markers near Court and Main streets that honor the two fallen Lewiston firefighters aren’t flashy or garish. They are there simply to remind people of the sacrifices firefighters have made over the years in service to the people of the community.

In all, nine such markers have gone up in and around Lewiston to memorialize those firefighters who perished in the line of duty.

“As residents travel the city,” says Rick Cailler, firefighter and president of the Lewiston Firefighters Association, “they now have the opportunity to observe a memorial marker acknowledging the date and location of each of their ultimate sacrifice. We believe these nine members and their families deserved to be recognized for their sacrifices for our citizens.”

A Christmas Eve fire on Lisbon Street in 1909 left two city firefighters dead after a wall collapsed. Capt. Phillippe Bazinet and 28-year-old Pvt. Thomas King died battling the blaze. Lewiston Evening Journal

Searching for Capt. Bazinet’s resting place

The markers were manufactured by Taylor Tins of Benton, Missouri, which, after the Lewiston mass shooting in 2023, crafted and donated a memorial firefighter helmet shield that sold nationwide. All the proceeds from those sales were presented to Lewiston’s Community Benefit Fund, with more than $16,000 distributed throughout the community to date.

After Taylor Tins designed signs to commemorate Lewiston’s nine fallen firefighters, that design was then adapted by firefighter Alex Theberge to give them the proper size and look. Theberge then gathered some material from Lewiston Public Works and began hanging the signs on poles, low enough that they can be easily seen but high enough to keep them out of the reach of vandals.

A street memorial for Lewiston firefighters Capt. Phillippe Bazinet and Pvt. Thomas King near the corner of Lisbon and Chestnut streets in Lewiston. Mark LaFlamme photo

All of this was part of a push by local firefighters to better honor their fallen comrades. In addition to placing the markers, firefighters have also convinced the city to rename a street in the business park, where their newest station is to be built, to Capt. Bazinet Way.

That name change honors Lewiston Fire Captain Phillippe Bazinet, who died on Christmas Eve in 1909 when a building partially collapsed while crews were battling a blaze at the Callahan Block on Lisbon Street. Twenty-eight-year-old firefighter Pvt. Thomas King also died in that fire, and both firefighters are memorialized by new markers placed on a pole near 274 Lisbon St.

While Bazinet now has a memorial marker at the location of his demise and a street named in his honor, another attempt to memorialize the man has proven difficult.

“Each Memorial Day, firefighters place brass memorial markers and the everpresent red flag on all the graves of deceased members of the Lewiston Fire Department,” says Cailler. “Since this practice started, we have never been successful in finding Capt. Bazinet’s final resting place despite numerous efforts both within the association and via distant relatives.”

Theberge, who is distantly related to Bazinet, has been among the most ardent searchers in trying to find the deceased firefighter’s final resting space.

“He’s been giving me a run for my money,” Theberge said.

As of this writing, Bazinet’s burial place remains unknown.

The memorial marker for Capt. Willie Mailhot can be seen on Lowell Street in Lewiston. Mailhot was born in Lewiston in 1904, became a permanent firefighter in 1938 and was a captain at the time of his death. He was run over by a Fire Department vehicle at a fire on Lowell Street on May 2, 1965. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Memorializing ultimate sacrifices

A street memorial for Lewiston firefighter Pvt. John Byrne at Main and Middle streets in Lewiston. Mark LaFlamme photo

When one notices the new memorial markers for the first time at various points around Lewiston, it’s a strange feeling.  

Stand at the corner of Main and Middle streets for instance, and the only sensation one gets is of prosaic city business humming along as always. There’s the regular coming and going of people at the Big Apple store just up Main Street. 

Across the way stands the bland and vaguely imposing Department of Health and Human Services office building. It’s hard to imagine much of note happening in this uneventful corner, but if you look up, you’ll see the sign bearing the name of another fallen firefighter. 

This one honors Pvt. John Byrne who, on Feb. 8, 1910, was thrown off a ladder and into the street when a burning building collapsed. 

This street memorial for Lewiston firefighter Pvt. Paul Nadeau is on Chapel Street in Lewiston. Rick Cailler photo

It’s the same over on Lowell Street, where a sign marks the area where fire Capt. Willie Mailhot was run over by a firetruck while helping to battle a house fire. Mailhot was 60 years old at the time and had been a full-time firefighter for more than 30 years. Now a newly placed marker denotes the spot where the tragedy took place. 

Just a few blocks away, on Chapel Street, one will find a marker honoring the service of Pvt. Paul Nadeau, who suffered a fatal heart attack after battling a fire at the Exchange Hotel on April 30, 1966. 

A memorial sign marks where Lewiston firefighter Pvt. Gerard Desjardins died in the line of duty in the area of 66 Knox St. in Lewiston. Mark LaFlamme

Deeper into the downtown, a marker hangs near 66 Knox St. where on Sept. 8, 1982, Pvt. Gerard Desjardins was run over by a fire truck while responding to what later proved to be a false alarm. Desjardins was 35 years old.

In the area of 90 Biron Ave., between Lisbon and Pleasant streets, there’s a marker to note the demise of 41-year-old Lt. Emilien Couture, who suffered a heart attack while fighting a fire there on May 9, 1967.

These sign posts to tragedy, present-day firefighters say, are there to remind the people of the Lewiston that every hour of every day, fire crews are out there facing the dangers inherent in the job.

At the Lewiston Central Fire Station on College Street stands a two-and-a-half ton granite monument, seven feet tall and six feet wide, bearing the names of the nine fallen firefighters.

The street memorial for Lewiston firefighter Lt. Emilien L. Couture, placed on Byron Avenue in Lewiston. Rick Cailler photo

While firefighters continue searching for the grave of Capt. Bazinet, the men and women who battle fires for a living are always searching for new ways to honor their fallen.

Those who die in service to the city, as the thinking goes, can just never be forgotten.

A memorial for all nine of Lewiston’s fallen firefighters rests outside Central Fire Station on Bates Street. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal