By Carol McCracken  (Post # 2,709)

The Noyes Street Fire Memorial Committee will be hosting a “Stars of Light 2016” Celebration to honor and remember the six victims of the fire that happened on Noyes Street almost two years ago.  The Celebration is set for Sunday, October 30th at Longfellow Park, near Noyes Street itself, between 1:00 – 400 pm.

The planning committee meetings will be held on the first Monday of every week from 11:00 am – to noon in Longfellow Park.  It’s located between Noyes, Longfellow and Oakdale Streets, Portland.  The schedule is as follows:  Mondays, September 5, 12, 19 & 26; Mondays in October 3, 10, 17, and 24.

The devastating 3 alarm fire happened at 7:00 am on November 1, 2014 following a Halloween Party the evening before.  (See left photo of the remains of the building after the early morning fire.) Seven people escaped the fire.  The building is located near the USM campus and sometimes was used by students there for housing.  The cause was considered accidental, but the property owner Greg J. Nisbet has been served with a wrongful death lawsuit and is expected to go to trial on manslaughter charges this fall sometime.

As a result of the tragedy, a fire prevention task force was set up and facilitated by Julie Sullivan, under a former assistant city manager, Sheila Hill-Christian. who resigned her post to take another post in Ohio.  As a result of the work of the task force the city’s housing safety office was established.  It is administered by Arthur Howe 111.

Dave Foster, is the coordinator of the event.  He may be reached at (20) 313-1131 or starsof light2016@yahoocom if you are interested in helping to plan the event.