The Medal of Valor at the Portland Fire Department has extra significance at this time every year.
The medal was created in memory of Joey Cavallaro, who was 26 years old when he died battling a blaze in Maine’s largest city.
It happened March 25, 1980, at the Phoenix Nightclub.
“FF Cavallaro joined the department in November 1977,” city firefighters announced on Facebook in a memorial to their fallen brother.
“Assigned to Engine 1, FF Cavallaro died from burns and asphyxiation while fighting a 3-alarm fire at Box 3-53, the Phoenix Nightclub, at 83 Oak Street.”
The department’s “Medal of Valor,” the department’s highest honor, is named in Cavallaro’s memory, as is the 42-foot fireboat known as Marine 2.
“For his supreme sacrifice he is remembered, and in the dedication and courage of all our active and retired members, and all firefighters past and present, his spirit lives on,” the department said.
RIP Shield No. 143.
