MEXICO — With the assistance of his department, Mexico Fire Chief Gary W. Wentzell is back home.
Firefighters drove to a funeral home in Watertown, Mass., on Thursday to pick up the urn containing Wentzell’s ashes and began a three-hour procession along Interstate 95 with a state police escort followed by emergency vehicles.
On at least two occasions, fire departments used two ladder trucks to display a garrison flag over an overpass, with firefighters saluting as the procession drove beneath.
Wentzell, 69, the town’s fire chief for 25 years, died Sunday of cancer. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, in Muskie Auditorium at Mountain Valley High School on Hancock Street in Rumford.
As the procession ended at the Mexico Fire Station, the seven local firetrucks included Mexico’s Engine 23, which was dedicated to Wentzell in 2014.
The Rumford-Mexico aerial truck extended its ladder to display a 20- by 38-foot flag as a large crowd gathered for about an hour in front of the station near the utility truck where the chief’s turnout gear was displayed.
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