Eternal Flame Now Burns for Fallen Ohio Fire Fighters

November 3, 2009 – The memorial for Colerain Township, Ohio’s fallen fire fighters was a modest one until a local Boy Scout raised money to add an eternal flame.

Boy Scout Austin Conn, 16-year-old son of Colerain Township Local 3915 fire fighter Steve Conn, chose the flame’s placement as his Eagle Scout Service Project (a mandatory step toward earning the Scout’s highest rank) after learning of the April 2008 line-of-duty deaths of Local 3915 member Robin Broxterman and fire fighter Brian Schira.

“After Broxterman and Schira died, there was a feeling throughout the community that the memorial outside of our Station 26 needed to be more than the existing bronze plaques,” says Local 3915 President Phil Klug. “This project means a lot to all of us.”

The future Eagle Scout turned to businesses and the community for donations.

“Austin was able to raise twice the amount of money he needed to fund the flame,” says Steve Conn. The extra money was used to put a concrete walkway to the memorial.

Meanwhile, President Klug helped Austin navigate through the system to get Township approval for the changes to the memorial site. Klug also arranged to replace the bronze plaques with a granite façade. The names of all of the township’s fallen fire fighters – Leroy Hammit (1964), Allen Bruce Price (1964), Charles Palm Sr. (1977), Broxterman (2008) and Schira (2008) were etched into the granite.

The new memorial was dedicated on October 19, the 45th anniversary of the deaths of Hammit and Price.