Nearly 100 honor fallen firefighter; Jon Davies Sr. died at 3-decker in 2011 blaze.

• Author: Owen, Paula J.
• Position: Local

Byline: Paula J. Owen

WORCESTER -- Despite the chilly temperature Sunday night, about 100 people, including 60 Worcester firefighters, turned out for a brief ceremony on Vernon Hill in front of the vacant lot at 49 Arlington St., where veteran Firefighter Jon D. Davies Sr. died in a three-decker fire two years ago.

On Dec. 8, 2011, Firefighter Davies and his close friend and partner on Rescue 1, Firefighter Brian Carroll, had gone back into the building to search for someone they had been told might still be trapped inside. The second floor collapsed beneath them.

Firefighter Carroll was rescued after being buried under a pile of debris in the basement and seriously injured. Firefighter Davies, 43, a 17-year veteran of the Fire Department, did not make it out alive.

Sunday night's ceremony included a short prayer by the Rev. Walter J. Riley, the Fire Department chaplain; the placing of a floral wreath on the chain-link fence that surrounds the vacant lot where the three-decker stood; and the striking of the last alarm.

Firefighter Carroll, a 16-year veteran of the department, fought back tears as he stood with a group of firefighters who hung the wreath, with "R1'' in the middle.

Visibly emotional, he would only say that it was "thoughtful'' that people attended the ceremony.

Deputy Fire Chief Geoffrey Gardell said December is a difficult month for Worcester firefighters.

Just five days earlier, he noted, firefighters attended a ceremony at the Franklin Street fire station in remembrance of the Dec. 3, 1999, conflagration at the former Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building that claimed the lives of six Worcester firefighters.

"This is an unofficial ceremony,'' he...