WINDSOR LOCKS — Four men including the late Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Chief Bill Halstead were memorialized last Sunday afternoon during a brief but poignant ceremony at Connecticut Fire Academy.

Halstead was among those remembered on September 25, when his name was among those read during the Connecticut State Firefighters 20th Annual Memorial Service.

Halstead, 73, died July 8 after responding to a fire call and later becoming ill. Also honored on Sunday were Samuel E. Cotter, Colin J. McFadden, and George W. Brown.

Cotter was a 54-year-old volunteer firefighter with Eagle Hose Hook & Ladder Company in Ansonia when he became entangled in wires and was electrocuted while working on the city’s alarm system on July 4, 1900. Ansonia Fire Department worked with The Connecticut State Firefighters Memorial Foundation to get Cotter’s name added to the memorial.

McFadden, 26, was a firefighter and EMT with Burlington Volunteer Fire Department when he died August 12, three days after responding to a call and then becoming ill.

Brown, 73, died July 21, also after having responded to an emergency. He was a past fire chief and a member for more than 50 years in Muddy Brook Fire Department.

Members of Sandy Hook VFR, including most line officers and all administrative officers, were among those to attend Sunday’s ceremony. Scott Allen, Stephen Clark, Kyle Keeping, Bradley Richardson, and Steven Stohl served as honor guard for the event.

Members of Sandy Hook VFR Ladies Auxiliary also attended the ceremony. Deb Aurelia Halstead, the late chief’s widow, was among the family to also attend.

Paul Walsh, chair of the Connecticut State Firefighters Memorial Foundation, served as emcee. A retired Deputy Chief of New Britain Fire Department, Walsh also led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Father Kevin Donovan, chaplain with Connecticut State Firefighters Association (CSFA), offered the invocation and benediction.

New London Firefighters Pipes & Drums offered music for the procession, musical prelude, and retiring of colors. Wallingford resident Mae McDonnel led the singing of the national anthem.

CSFA President Edward Waido offered opening remarks, followed by Peter Carozza, Jr with the keynote address. Carozza is chair of the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control and president of Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association of Connecticut.

Governor Ned Lamont also offered remarks on Sunday.

Retired New Britain Fire Department Deputy Chief Paul Walsh read the names of those being honored. Etched glass memorial gifts were then presented to relatives of Brown, Halstead and McFadden, and members of Ansonia Fire, who attended to honor and represent Cotter.

The CT State Wide Honor Guard then used a bell to tap out four sets of five rings, a long-honored fire service tradition that honors those who have fallen in the line of duty. Such a tolling symbolizes a last alarm for a fallen firefighter.

The Connecticut Fallen Firefighters Memorial was the first of its kind in the state to honor Connecticut firefighters who gave the ultimate sacrifice. The design incorporates a plaza setting featuring a brick patio in the form of a Maltese cross, the universal symbol of the fire service.

The centerpiece of the memorial is a 6- by 12-foot polished black granite stone bearing etched with four firefighters fighting a fire on the front of the stone. The state seal and the words Firefighter’s Memorial are also etched on the stone. An eternal flame is also incorporated into the front of the memorial.

The reverse of the stone has an etched Maltese cross and the words In Memory of Those Firefighters Who Have Given Their Lives In The Line Of Duty.

Eight granite sitting benches, representing each of the state’s counties, surround the memorial, which was formally dedicated in August 2002.

The base of the memorial features 20 granite tablets, and each tablet hosts a growing list of names of those who have died in the line of duty in Connecticut. While the pipes & drums band played “Amazing Grace,” memorial wreaths were placed around the memorial.

EMS Captain Karin Halstead and Firefighter John Jeltema — Chief Halstead’s daughter and son-in-law, respectively — were among those to place a wreath against one of the tablets Sunday afternoon. The large wreath featured red and white carnations, and a white ribbon upon which Chief Bill Halstead had been printed in gold.

The names of 350 Connecticut firefighters are currently included on the state memorial, which spans 170 years. The earliest honoree is New Haven Fire Department Firefighter James T. Hemingway, who died in July 1852.

Sandy Hook Chief Bill Halstead is the second firefighter from Newtown to be added to the roll of honor. Newtown Hook & Ladder Second Assistant Chief Stephen J. Sauter died on October 31, 1973, after suffering a heart attack at the scene of a structure fire on Gray’s Plain Road.

=====

Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.