Hundreds turn out for fundraiser in honor of fallen fire Lt. Menard

BOSTON — A community can heal in many different ways.

On Friday, hundreds made their way to the Worcester Beer Garden to attend a fundraiser held in honor of fallen Fire Lieutenant Jason Menard.

Menard, who lost his life helping others escape a burning home in Worcester last week, lived his life as a hero until his death.

A husband and father of three, Lt. Menard was everything to his family. With that in mind, the event organizers are donating 100% of the funds raised to the Menard family.

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Worcester Fire Chief Michael Lavoie saluted Lt. Menard, saying the event was good for everyone to take a break from grieving.

"A distraction, that’s what we need," said Chief Lavoie. "We need to have a good time but then we need to go back to honoring our brother."

Pipers played the bagpipes while people waited in line for the sold-out event. Inside, the Dropkick Murphys helped firefighters and hundreds of friends to unwind.

Band member Ken Casey said it was an honor for the band to be able to play at the event.

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"Pay homage but at the same time have a night where they can have a smile on their face maybe," said Casey.

Losing a firefighter, unfortunately, has been a recurrent issue in the Worcester community. Menard's death marks the ninth Worcester firefighter to have died in the line of duty in the past 20 years.

On Dec. 3, 1999, the city lost six of its heroes to a fire at a cold storage facility.

Years later, Jon Davies died fighting a fire on Dec. 8, 2011.

And just recently, not even a year ago, Christopher Roy died battling a vicious blaze on Dec. 9, 2018.

"The Worcester 6, John Davies, last year and now this, it hits home," said Mark Dipilato, of Worcester. "Jason Menard is a true hero in every aspect of the word and we don’t throw that around lightly in the fire service."

>> MORE:

'It's hard to lose one of our heroes': Community mourns loss of firefighter
Museum to open in honor of the Worcester Six
Worcester Fire battles multi-alarm fire hours after death of one of their own

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