Firefighters from more than 20 area departments took part in a funeral procession on Saturday for Wabash Fire Protection District volunteer firefighter Mehdi Mourad, 21, of Mattoon. The procession traveled from the funeral service at New Hope Church in Effingham to the burial site at Neoga Memorial Cemetery.
EFFINGHAM â The funeral for fallen volunteer firefighter Mehdi Mourad of Mattoon, who was from Morocco, drew a long procession of area firefighters and an online international audience on Saturday.
Mehdi Mourad PROVIDED PHOTO
The line of firetrucks included multiple units from the Wabash Fire Protection District in rural Mattoon, which 21-year-old Mourad decided to join this summer after arriving in the United States to study automotive technology at Lake Land College.
Construction Starts for New Vestal Emergency Squad Headquarters
Work has begun to build a new facility for the Vestal Volunteer Emergency Squad.
The headquarters building will be located on the Vestal Parkway East. The is on state-owned land between the Vestal Public Library and the Route 26 interchange.
Emergency squad chief Jerry Schultz said the project will be completed around November or December. The project s timeline has been adjusted due to some delays but Schultz said it s back on track.
The Vestal ambulance service has been based at a former community center property on Myrtle Street in Twin Orchards since 1976. Major flooding incidents in 2006 and 2011 posed operational challenges for the squad and prompted the decision to relocate.