Firefighters, their families, public officials, and others gathered today to commemorate Toledo Fire & Rescue Department officers who have died in the line of duty.

It was the 54th year of the memorial, which was established after the 1961 Anthony Wayne Trail fire claimed the lives of four firefighters.

Coming on the heels of a dispute between the firefighters’ union, Local 92, and Chief Luis Santiago, the event at Chub DeWolfe park in downtown Toledo was unmarked by protest. Local 92 President Jeff Romstadt and Chief Santiago made no mention of the contention during their addresses and both declined to comment on the matter afterward.

“This is a day when we remember our fallen comrades,” Chief Santiago said. “And that’s where we keep this day.”

Interim president of the University of Toledo, Nagi Naganathan, who recently spoke at the former Medical College of Ohio’s graduation ceremony, delivered the guest address. He cited Winston Churchill’s words, “Never was so much owed by so many to so few,” as emblematic of the debt of gratitude Toledoans owe to their fire department.

First Published June 10, 2015, 6:45 p.m.