Again, a time of fraternity

Adam Paradiso applied a finish to the bronze statue created to honor the firefighters who died in the Strand Theatre fire. (MATTHEW J. LEE/GLOBE STAFF)

A brotherhood of firefighters from Scranton, Pa., will travel to Massachusetts this week to attend Saturday's ceremony remembering firefighters who died in the 1941 Strand Theatre fire in Brockton.

The visitors will watch as a 10-foot statue is dedicated in memory of the 13 men who perished. The statue, created by sculptor Robert Shure of Wilmington, will take the place of the only other memorial ever dedicated to the fallen firemen: an anthracite coal memorial crafted by a firefighter from Scranton, Pa., in the days after the tragedy.

That anthracite memorial, which had the names of the dead firefighters sketched on it, was created for the first anniversary ceremony 67 years ago, and it has sat in City Hall since, encased atop a granite base, the only reminder of the sacrifice of the men.

"This piece of coal has become our main focus since 1942," said Fire Chief Ken Galligan.

The anthracite memorial has become a link between Brockton firefighters and their partners in Scranton, fostering friendship over the years. Members of the Scranton Fire Department attended a ceremony during the 50th anniversary of the Strand Theatre blaze. In January, Brockton firefighters went to Scranton to honor a firefighter from that department who died in an electrical fire.

"The people involved in that time have long passed on, but there's still that connection of camaraderie and kinship," said David Schreiber, head of the Scranton firefighters' union. He said today's firefighters from Scranton know of the memorial as if it were some type of legend.

"When you have something that was established many years ago, it means a lot and it's handed down."

No one can say why Brockton did not, until now, build a memorial to the Strand Theatre blaze, still one of the largest losses of firefighters in US history. Galligan and former Chief Ed Burrell, the last living survivor of the fire, surmise that the city, and the country, grew distracted with the dawn of World War II just months after.

But each year, firefighters have still gathered in ceremonies on March 10. Some times, it was just a few of them, at other times the city held a grand gathering. And each time, the coal memorial was the center of the ceremony.

MILTON J. VALENCIA