Firefighters Pay Tribute to 'The Nine'

Forty-four yeas ago today, nine Boston firefighters lost their lives in the worst disaster in Boston Fire Department history.

The former Hotel Vendome, at the corner of Comm Ave and Darmouth Street, collapsed in the course of a four-alarm fire, injuring eight firefighters and killing nine others.

A memorial to that loss still stands on the Comm Ave. Mall - a half-moon of marble that chronicles the timeline of the deadly blaze and the names of those killed.

A Boston Globe obituary published June 19, 1972 declares: "Fighting Fires was their Life" over photos of the nine men. It includes touching details of the men as fathers, as calling their wives one last time before leaving the firehouse and the pride they took in their important jobs.

"He was so proud he was bursting his buttons," one of the firefighter's widows recalls.

The Boston Fire Department said via Twitter its members will gather for a moment of remembrance at noon.

The department holds a formal ceremony every fives years. In 2017, they will mark the 45th anniversary of the tragedy, the Boston Fire Department said.

It might be years in the past, but memories of "the nine" are still alive among firefighters across the state.