The Westerly Fire Department will host its inaugural Wreath Laying Ceremony on Friday, June 12, 2026, at 7:00 PM.
Held on the Friday prior to Firemen’s Memorial Sunday, this solemn ceremony honors the memory of the department’s fallen and marks the beginning of a new tradition within the Westerly Fire Department.
Members of the department will gather to lay wreaths at the graves of the department’s two Line of Duty Deaths:
On July 28, 1930, the Westerly Fire Department experienced its first line of duty death when Fire Chief George Egger succumbed to injuries sustained at the scene of an alarm. Chief Egger and the department had just returned from a large brush fire when they were called to a report of smoke in a barn at the Thorp Farm in the Potter Hill section of town. While investigating inside the hayloft of the barn, Chief Egger tragically fell through an open hayloft door into the stalls below, striking his head. He was rushed to Westerly Hospital, where he passed away that evening. The call was ultimately determined to be a false alarm. A member of the Cyclone Steam Fire Engine Company #2, Chief Egger had led the department from 1919 until his death in 1930. During his tenure as Chief of Department, Chief Egger guided the department after the devastating fire that burned down the original firehouse on Union St, and oversaw the construction of the new Central Fire Station, which still stands to this day. Chief Egger was a native of Westerly, a son of a Swiss Immigrant father Jean Egger and mother Margaret Rodman Egger of New York, he left behind his wife Julia Olive Egger, he and his wife had no children.
On January 31, 1976, the Westerly Fire Department experienced its second line of duty death when First Assistant Chief John "Jake" Keena suffered a fatal heart attack while battling a structure fire. The accidental blaze, located at a home on West Street (Box 4115), broke out on the third floor and eventually consumed the roof. A member of the Cyclone Steam Fire Engine Company #2, Assistant Chief Keena collapsed on the scene while operating at the fire. Despite immediate care initiated by his fellow department members and subsequent emergency care and transport by the Westerly Ambulance Corps, he passed away after being rushed to Westerly Hospital. Jake was a US Army Veteran of the Second World War, a Bronze Star and Purple Heart Recipient, his younger brother Tom Keena was elected to the Board of Engineers and is a Retired Assistant Chief, Life Member of the Cyclones Steam Fire Engine Co. 2 and the Westerly Fire Department
The community is invited to join department members in remembering their service, sacrifice, and enduring legacy. Department members will begin the ceremony at 7pm at the Riverbend Cemetery for the laying of the wreath at Chief George Egger’s gravesite, immediately afterwards the department members will then proceed to Saint Sebastian Cemetery to lay the wreath at Assistant Chief Jake Keena’s gravesite.
This ceremony will serve as the opening remembrance event leading into the 127th Annual Westerly Fire Department Firemen’s Memorial Parade & Ceremony taking place on Sunday, June 14, 2026, at 9:00 AM from WFD Headquarters.
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