Palatine to mark Volunteer Firefighters Day of Remembrance

The American flags at village of Palatine facilities will fly at half-staff on Friday, Oct. 1, to mark the Palatine Volunteer Firefighters Day of Remembrance.

It was that day in 1946 when Palatine volunteer firefighters Wesley R. Comfort Jr. and Leonard Nebel were killed in the line of duty when their fire engine was struck by a train at the Brockway Street crossing.

They were part of a crew that had left the old Slade Street fire station to respond to a house fire at Smith Street and Dundee Road.

Sixty-four years later, Comfort and Nebel are mentioned at various events such as the annual Sept. 11 ceremony, and the pair are among the five fallen remembered at a permanent firefighters memorial at Brockway and Slade streets.