Charlottetown firefighters clean monument for fallen brother

Some Charlottetown firefighters have been putting in some time and elbow grease to clean up the monument of a firefighter who died more than a hundred years ago.

We cleaned it and scrubbed it all down. We dug out and put a new flower bed in and a few plants around it.- Joe MacKinnon

Lt. Theo J. Farquharson, 35, passed away on Sept. 1, 1890 from injuries he sustained fighting a fire the day before.

A monument was erected in honour of his bravery in the People's Cemetery in Charlottetown, but at some point it fell into disrepair.

"It had a lot of moss and it was really hard to read the writing.You couldn't see his name," saidJoe MacKinnon, a member of the Charlottetown Professional Firefighters Association.

The brotherhood

When it cameto the association'sattention that the monument was inneed of some work, MacKinnon said, memberswanted to help.

"So we went out and we cleaned it and scrubbed it all down. We dug out and put a new flower bed in and a few plants around it."

He saidmembers wanted to show respect for their fallen brother to ensure his sacrifice would never be forgotten.

The firefighters will make this an annual clean-up.

They alsoplan to investigate whether there are other gravestones or monuments of firefighters that need attention.

"It's a labourof love, I guess. It comes back to the brotherhood and respect factor," added MacKinnon.

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