DIXFIELD — A thin red line of courage, displayed on firefighter badges to honor a fallen comrade, surrounded the community Friday morning.
Solemnly marching alongside a Dixfield Fire Co. ladder truck, Chief Scott Dennett and Deputy Chief Chris Moretto escorted Danielle Ranger’s remains up Weld Street as part of her funeral procession.
About 50 local fire, EMS and police departments participated in the march from the Dixfield Fire Station on Main Street to the Dirigo High School gymnasium. A LifeFlight of Maine helicopter hovered above the high school until the ladder truck reached its destination.
Ranger, 16, was a junior at Dirigo High School. She died Sunday from injuries sustained in a car crash Oct. 15 in Peru. She served as a junior firefighter for the Dixfield Fire Co. and was a member of the Western Foothills Junior Firefighter Program.
During the funeral service, Dennett said fire departments often are like their own small community. Remembering his junior firefighter, he said, “Dani had become one of our own.”
Superintendent Tom Ward spoke during the ceremony, saying he has struggled with finding a reason behind the loss of such a young life.
“Dani loved life and we should try to move forward and love life like she did,” Ward said.
One of the last to speak at the service was Dixfield Fire Capt. Jason Hyde, one of Ranger’s mentors and also her cousin.
He said she wanted to become a firefighter and change people’s lives.
“You wanted to be a firefighter to save and change people’s lives,” Hyde said. “I only wish you knew how you have changed mine”
Ranger’s firefighter helmet, which had been engraved and carried on the ladder truck during the procession, was presented to her mother.
Ranger was also given the high honor of a 200-year-old tradition called the tolling of the bell. The bell was rung three times, then a pause, three times, then a pause, and then a final three rings. Normally, it’s a ceremony reserved for a firefighter killed in the line of duty.
Total silence fell in the gymnasium as the bell tolled and Ranger was given the last salute from her fellow firefighters.
ecox@sunjournal.com
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- Dani Ranger’s firefighter helmet sits on the front of the Dixfield Fire Co. ladder truck during her funeral procession Friday. The helmet was a Christmas gift from her cousin and mentor, Dixfield fire Capt. Jason Hyde. The helmet was presented to her mother during the funeral service.
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- Firefighters from Turner salute the ladder truck carrying Dani Ranger’s urn before her memorial service Friday at Dirigo High School in Dixfield. Members of fire departments and rescue personnel from surrounding communities attended to honor the 16-year-old junior firefighter, who died Sunday after a car crash in Peru.
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- Dixfield Fire Co. Capt. Jason Hyde looks down at the urn containing the ashes of his cousin, Dani Ranger, before her memorial service Friday morning at Dirigo High School. The 16-year-old junior firefighter died from injuries sustained in a car accident last weekend.
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- A procession carrying the ashes of Danielle “Dani” Ranger, 16, winds its way up Weld Street to Dirigo High School on Friday. Approximately 50 local fire, EMS, and police departments marched in the procession.
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- Tammy Ranger waits to enter Dirigo High School in Dixfield before her daughter Danielle’s memorial service Friday. Many attendees wore purple or orange, two of Dani’s favorite colors.
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- Area firefighters line up outside Dirigo High School in Dixfield before Danielle Ranger’s memorial service Friday.
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- A parking spot at Dirigo High School in Dixfield has turned into a memorial for Danielle Ranger, 16, who died Sunday of injuries from a car crash in Peru.
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- The Dixfield Fire Co. ladder truck that transported the ashes of junior firefighter Danielle Ranger was draped in black cloth Friday for her funeral procession.
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- Dixfield Fire Co. Chief Scott Dennett and Deputy Chief Chris Moretto march alongside a ladder truck carrying the remains of Danielle Ranger as they pass a cemetery on Weld Street in Dixfield on Friday.
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