Retired Worcester firefighter John Griffin recalled how much it meant nearly two decades ago when other city employees stepped in to relieve the city’s fire personnel while they mourned their six colleagues killed in the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. fire.
Saturday, Mr. Griffin and some of his fellow retirees from the department will pay that favor forward to the city’s current firefighters when they grieve for Christopher J. Roy, who was killed while fighting a fire on Lowell Street last Sunday.
“You know the city’s covered, you know folks are going to help out,” he said. “To have that ability to go and mourn with their fellow firefighters – I think that was important to all of us who volunteered.”
Mr. Griffin is one of 19 former city firefighters who have agreed to work as “pilots” at the city’s 21 companies during the funeral for Mr. Roy Saturday.