20 « February « 2020 « chicagoareafire.com

My grandfather, Joe Salerno , who turned 93 years old this month, was the asst. fire marshal for the Cicero Fire Dept. a very long time ago. As kids we grew up in the fire house and saw several of the trucks that we named as kids when visiting the guys at the house. Here are some old black and white pics .

I have newspaper clippings with the pics which describe the fires fought. My grandfather started in Cicero in 1954 and became asst marshal in 77. He saved a lot of people including a baby dropped to him from a three story building engulfed in flames . He turned 93 years old last month and he tells us stories of the firefighting days like they were yesterday . We all remember the Cicero firemen from the different fire stations as we literally grew up in the houses . All of the firefighters, both younger and older than my grandfather, have passed . He is the last of his kind and although he still drives and is somewhat active I know that his days are limited as he recently lost his wife last year at 92 years old after 70 years of marriage. He is alone now and his days are long and quiet, but he brightens up when he is able to relive the firefighting days.

Being a WW2 vet, serving in the pacific at the time the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, and after saving many people during Cicero fires, I am hoping to show him that he leaves a legacy. I believe that we tend to forget the value the our lives had on others as we get older. I hope that his pictures can be added to the website for future generations to see. It would make us proud to show him the value that his life has had on others. I will send any pics I have for the site. On Christmas I showed him your site and we found the houses were he was stationed and we saw trucks that we took pictures in when we were kids as we all had our own trucks at the station. The firefighters were like a second family. He was so excited to see the pics on your site so I am hoping to add to it as the Cicero fire dept archive site has not responded to us.

Bob