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Fundraiser honors late firefighter
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
When Sharyl E. Frasier died earlier this year, she left a legacy that exceeded having been the city’s first black female firefighter.
To those who knew her, Frasier was not only a hard-working, dedicated firefighter but also a devoted friend and colleague.
“She was probably the most friendly person you could meet,” said Marcia Harris, the Youngstown Fire Department’s chief fire inspector. “She was a fire inspector, so she was in the community all the time.”
Her 28-year career, along with her many contributions to the department and community, were driving forces behind Thursday’s “Unity in the Community” fundraiser in the Wick Park Pavilion on the city’s North Side.
The goal of the four-hour benefit was to raise at least $5,000 for a scholarship in Frasier’s name. The money is to provide training at the Youngstown Fire Training Academy to those interested in becoming firefighters, noted Harris, who’s also president of the Youngstown Association of Black Professional Firefighters, which hosted Thursday’s event.
Frasier, who died Feb. 10, her 53rd birthday, started with the fire department in late 1981 at the No. 1 station near Belmont Avenue and West Federal Street. In addition to fighting fires, her duties included driving the squad truck and checking equipment.
Around the same time, she also was a student at Youngstown State University studying computer science.
Before retiring from the department in 2009, Frasier taught fire safety and prevention courses to youngsters and worked with them in the Juvenile Firewatch Program, designed to show troubled young people the consequences of starting fires.
To Harris, though, Frasier’s accomplishments on the force go only so far toward capturing the type of person she was.
“We worked together for eight hours a day and it would be nothing for us to stay on the phone two more hours,” she fondly recalled. “We’d tell about our lives and dreams, but it was never anything negative.”
The Juvenile Firewatch Program works with youngsters age 3 to 18 who face fire-related charges or who accidentally start fires after becoming curious about lighters and matches, noted Lt. Alvin Ware, the department’s arson investigator.
An average of 20 to 30 Mahoning County youngsters go through the course each year, Ware explained, adding that those in the program learn about the dangers of fire in an instructional video, which also shows burn victims.
The benefit had a basket auction and 50/50 raffle for prizes that included a portable cooler, cosmetics, a Cleveland Browns afghan, Pittsburgh Steelers memorabilia, Ohio State University Buckeyes pillows, a fire-safety kit and scented candles.
Providing a mix of R&B, country music and jazz was Alfred Clarett and Friends, a band headed by Lt. Clarett of the Youngstown Fire Department.