FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Media Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 781-752-9877
Email: [email protected]

Today: Procession from Dover to Old Orchard Beach for Berwick Fire Captain Joel Barnes

DOVER, N.H. — A procession will take place Sunday afternoon as the body of Berwick Fire Captain Joel Barnes will be transferred from the Tasker Funeral Home in Dover to the Old Orchard Beach Funeral Home in Maine.

The procession will depart Dover at 2 p.m., and the journey is expected to end at Old Orchard Beach at 3:30. Fire trucks from several communities will like highway overpasses all the way to the I-95 exit in Saco, Maine.

The Old Orchard Beach Funeral Home is expected to host a private family service this week, and details of another service for the fire community are expected to be released later this week.

Captain Barnes, age 32, was a paramedic and served as the Berwick Fire & Rescue training officer and emergency medical services coordinator. He previously worked for the Horry County, South Carolina Fire Rescue Department, South Berwick Rescue, York Ambulance and the Old Orchard Beach Fire Department before joining Berwick Fire in July 2016. He was also an active per diem firefighter for Town of Acton, Maine.

Captain Barnes died in a large apartment fire on Bell Street Friday, March 1. The origin and cause of the fire remain under investigation. Captain Barnes was leading another firefighter in an interior attack of the fire when conditions suddenly worsened.

24-Hour Vigil

Firefighters have maintained their 24-hour constant vigil over the body of Captain Barnes since the arrival of a procession from the medical examiner’s office in Concord, New Hampshire to the Tasker Funeral Home in Dover. The vigil will continue without interruption in Old Orchard Beach

Fund Established

The family of Captain Barnes requests that any donations being made in his name go to the Berwick Volunteer Firefighters Association in his memory c/o Kennebunk Saving Bank, 2 School St., Berwick, ME 03901.

Additional Updates

This is the latest of several updates that will be distributed as new information becomes available.

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