A new tribute to remember heroes who lost their lives battling fires in Youngstown is on display in downtown Youngstown.

The original memorial site in the city was in need of major repairs.

Youngstown Fire Lieutenant Paul Lutton says the department formed a committee to decide how to proceed with repairs. When they received an estimate around $30,000 for a new statue, Lutton says he started to brainstorm.

He and his longtime friend, Curt Kester, a teacher in the Beaver Local School District, eventually came up with a plan to save money by creating a custom firefighter statue with retired turn out gear and equipment.

“I can weld, I can do all kinds of different builds and it’s just something that we put together,” Kester said.
Lutton teaches firefighting at Choffin Career and Technical Center. He has access to retired gear and equipment they used to build the statue.

Kester volunteered his time, spending five days welding and fabricating.

He says the hardest part was making it come to life.

“The correct length of arms, legs and you know, the bends and stuff, so that it looks like a real firefighter,” Kester said.

The statue is weather proof, has a skeleton made with rebar and was made with concrete and flat steel.

It was just installed across from from Fire Station Station 1 on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 

“I wanted something nice out in front of the station, because I want people to drive by and I want them to say ‘what’s that’, stop, take a look at it, realize what it’s there for, respect those guys that gave their lives,” Lutton said.

Work at the memorial site is not finished yet. Lutton says they plan to bring back the cast iron bell and to inscribe the names of the 18 fallen firefighters from the department.