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Story and photos by Ron Jeffers
During the early morning hours of October 15, 1967, some 150 firefighters from the East Bergen area of Bergen County responded to a bowling alley fire in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. As fire began to consume the entire structure, five firefighters from bordering Ridgefield were operating in a narrow alley. There was a sudden roar of falling bricks as a wall collapsed, killing these volunteer firefighters. Suddenly, five wives and 15 children didn’t have husbands and fathers.
On the 50th anniversary of this tragedy, Ridgefield and Cliffside Park volunteer firefighters gathered along with family, friends, and area firefighters at a firefighter’s memorial in Ridgefield to honor these brave men.
“Their sacrifice will never be forgotten,” said Ridgefield Chief of Department Pete O’Connor.
Officials placed wreaths at the monument and fire bell representing the five members. They were: Chief Gustave Genschon, ex-Chief James Lauria, and Firefighters Dominick Acquafaedda, James Edwards, and Harry Brown. All but the chief were members of Company 2.
On the morning of the fire, local resident Patti Stevens heard the commotion and walked to the scene. She witnessed the horror of what had happened and teary-eyed firefighters. As a singer and a poet, she went home and began to write a poem in memory of the fallen members called “Five Beneath A Wall” (see photo).
Now in her 80s, Stevens was escorted to the memorial by retired North Hudson Regional (NJ) Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Oriente, a lifelong friend, where she read her poem to all in attendance.
After the ceremony, which included bagpipes and a final-alarm radio transmission, a procession of firefighters and apparatus proceeded to the local Little League field, known as the Five Firemen’s Field, for a rededication and a softball game between Ridgefield and Cliffside Park firefighters.
During the memorial ceremony, Bergen County Executive James Tedesco spoke to the assembly. Tedesco himself is a volunteer firefighter in Paramus. “This is what we do every day: We don’t think about not coming home, we think about going to the fire and protecting people and their property. But we need to have a day like today to remember what those five firefighters gave.”
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