By Kelly Wolfe
Palm Beach Post
 Photo courtesy of Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Lt. Rafael Vazquez |
LAKE PARK, Fla. — Firefighters are mourning the loss of one of their own at Station 68 today.
Red and white carnations and a helmet make up the small memorial at the post where Lt. Rafael Vazquez worked until he was transferred to Royal Palm Beach a month ago.
Alburn Edward Blake, 60, was called “demented” but “extremely intelligent” by his ex-girlfriend.
Lt. Rafael Vazquez, 42, leaves behind a wife and their five children.
Volunteers, retired firefighters and city workers have stopped by the station all morning offering their condolences, said Lt. Jennifer Johnson. She said she expects the small memorial to grow throughout the day.
Firefighters are grieving all over the county.
The battalion chief at Station 4 in Delray Beach, Mike Wells, was Vazquez’s first boss. He said this morning that he hired Vazquez because he was a very experienced medic and dedicated employee. Wells, who worked with Vazquez for four years, said those who knew him are having a hard time dealing with the news of his senseless death.
“Obviously it’s very difficult but you have to do the job and keep people alive,” Wells said. “You have to come to work the next day.”
Mourners placed flowers and notes in the bushes outside Royal Palm Beach’s Fire Station on Royal Palm Beach Boulevard. Firefighters inside said people had been stopping by throughout the day, offering condolences, flowers, and even sandwiches.
District Chief Robin Herring wore a black armband across his badge.
“The community has been really great,” Herring said.
A handwritten note on a scrap of yellow legal pad, left amidst the flowers, seemed to be meant for Vazquez’s wife.
“My God bless you and your family at this difficult time,” it read. “Our lord will watch over you and yours. Keep looking up. People admire heroes like your husband. With deepest sympathy, Darlene.”
Marty Levenson, 88, a retired firefighter from New York, said he likes to stop in now and again to feel connected to a job he once loved. He said he felt particularly compelled to do so today.
“I’m terribly saddened,” he said. “I call these kids my brothers. I wanted to share in the grief and the sadness of the firefighters.”