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TERMITES EXTINGUISH MONUMENT:
WESTWOOD STATUE GONE WITHOUT BLAZE OF
GLORY
Bergen Record
By BLANCA A. NIEVES, Record Staff Writer
Date: 09-29-1992, Tuesday
After eight years on duty, fire didn't get him, but termites did.
Westwood's carved wooden statue of a fireman holding a baby, a landmark at
the Five Corners intersection at Kinderkamack Road and Westwood Avenue in
Fireman's Park, was removed recently because of decay caused by water
damage and insects.
Fire officials said the wood base of the 6-foot-tall statue had rotted, so
the statue had to be removed this summer before it fell and hurt someone.
It was moved to the firehouse.
The carved statue was erected in 1984. Former Westwood Mayor Robert
Gardner said the thinking then was that Fireman's Park should contain a
memorial beyond a bell that was dedicated in 1950.
"There had been an old birdhouse resembling a firehouse on a post 8 feet
off the ground on that site," said Gardner. "The chief thought something
more appropriate should go there."
The Fire Department hired a sculptor, who makes wooden chain-saw carvings,
to carve a statue of a fireman for $1,000. Using a small ceramic figure of
a fireman holding a baby as a model, the craftsman completed the statue in
two months.
Westwood Fire Chief John Woods said he was sorry to see the statue go. "It
had been there a long time," he said.
Woods said the sculpture would not be replaced with another wooden
carving, but added that the Fire Department is considering putting
something else in its place.
"We plan on trying to get something else, but we want to get away from
wood," he said. "Another sculpture, made out of anything but wood, would
cost a lot of money."
Westwood residents have noticed the disappearance of the statue.
Shaun O'Connor, manager of Lewis Drugs Inc. on Westwood Avenue, directly
across the street from the park, said: "I would walk by it every day. I
thought it was a nice touch for the firemen."
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