Attleboro Fire Department Reignites Honor Guard

It has been more than two decades since the city's firefighters have dressed in their formal blues, shiny shoes and rope chords as a uniformed honor guard. 

Now, with a yes vote from the city council to provide the department with the $2,000 needed to buy all of the necessary equipment, the department is on its way to reigniting its effort to form a six-member honor guard. 

 It was not for lack of interest that the city's fire chief and his men put off forming an official honor guard, according to Attleboro Fire Chief Scott Lachance.

"Nearly 20 years ago we had a Fire Department Honor Guard that was very popular and represented our department and the city very well," said Lachance in his letter to Mayor Kevin Dumas. "The Honor Guard is an important aspect of our commitment to becoming a visible, well-organized contributor to city events."

While most men on the department have the Class A (dress blues) uniforms necessary for an honor guard, they did not have the ceremonial pick axe, polished wood flag poles and several items that are necessary to a formal honor guard. In fact, there are 15 different items needed. 

Once everything has been purchased, Attleboro firefighter and retired U.S. Marine, Skip Pion will assist the men on everything from formal uniform standards to marching techniques. 

In order to tap into that strong brotherhood between both departments, Lachance is hoping to have the fire honor guard participate in drills with the police department's honor guard. 

"In Attleboro it is a tight group between police and fire," Lachance said. 

"I think it would be a great idea for the fire department to have their own
honor guard," Chief Richard Pierce said. "It certainly would be
nice to be able to have both the police and fire department represented by
their respective honor guards at various ceremonies held in the city."

For five consecutive years, the Attleboro Police Honor Guard, which currently has 11 members, has won competitions at the National Police Parade including the Police Marching Unit – Precision in Drill and Ceremony Competition.

"It's a great idea that both departments work on the same things ," said Sgt. James MacDonald, who runs the Police Honor Guard. "When they had an honor guard under Chief Churchill they looked sharp. I look forward to working with them."