Watertown Firefighters Remember Fallen Colleague Two Years After His Death

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Watertown Fire Department

Watertown Firefighters salute Joseph Toscano on the second anniversary of the firefighter's death.

Watertown Firefighters salute Joseph Toscano on the second anniversary of the firefighter’s death.

Two years after Watertown Firefighter Joseph Toscano lost his life at a fire in East Watertown, members of the Watertown Fire Department gathered to pay their respects.

Sunday’s ceremony took place at the corner of Bigelow and Merrifield avenues, just down the street from the home where the fire occurred. The corner was named Firefighter Joseph A. Toscano Square last year on March 17, the one-year anniversary of his death. The event was attended by hundreds of people and drew media from around the region.

The sign erected in honor of fallen Watertown Firefighter Joseph Toscano at the corner of Merrifield Avenue and Bigelow Avenue in East Watertown.

This year’s ceremony was a brief one, with the Fire Department observing a moment of silence at 1 p.m. The WFD was joined by several Town officials and members of the public.

Toscano was 54 when he died, and had been on the Watertown Fire Department for 21 years. Thousands lined the street for Toscano’s funeral procession to St. Patrick’s Church in March 2017.

Firefighter Joseph Toscano, a 21-year veteran of the Watertown Fire Department, died in 2017 while fighting a fire.

He worked as the aid to then Deputy Fire Chief Bob Quinn (now chief) and also was the cook for his group at the Fire Station. He left behind his wife, Maureen, and five children.

His death was the first line-of-duty death of a Watertown firefighter since April 1959, when Firefighter Charles Morrill died in a fire at the then-East Junior High School (now the Brigham House).

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