BANGOR — Near the end of WWII, 16 children and one adult perished in a tragic fire in Auburn. The early morning blaze on Jan. 31, 1945, spread quickly through a nursery boarding home. Among the tiny victims were babies of servicemen and war workers. This tragedy shocked the whole nation, with newspapers all around the country reporting the story on their front pages.
Sadly, 11 of the 17 victims were buried in unmarked graves. Two of the victims, 18-month-old Victor Roy and 13-month-old Frances Ann Ferguson, had family ties to Bangor. Victor was buried in the City Section area of Mt. Hope Cemetery in Bangor, and Frances was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Auburn, both in unmarked graves.
All of the other victims are buried in Lewiston, one at Mt. Hope Cemetery (in Lewiston) and fourteen at St. Peter’s Cemetery, where fittingly, 11 of the victims are buried side by side in a special baby area.
As a service project to mark the graves, members of Auburn’s Cub Scout Pack 111 began fund-raising last April and quickly raised enough funds to purchase stones for all the unmarked graves, purchase a bronze memorial plaque dedicated to all 17 victims, and have funds enough to plan for a memorial service on the 70th anniversary of the fire. The Cub Scouts raised $2,500 by selling popcorn outside of the Marden’s store in Lewiston and conducting a bottle drive.
All the stones were placed this fall, including the stone for Victor Roy and Frances Ann Ferguson. The Fortin Group and Matt Niles of Custom Memorial Designs of Old Town helped Pack 111 acquire the marking stones. Niles set the stone for Victor. The scouts of Pack 111 helped set the stone for Frances.
Pack 111 is coordinating a memorial ceremony to remember the victims on the 70th anniversary of the fire. The ceremony will take place at 8 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, inside the mausoleum at St. Peter’s Cemetery, Deer Road, Lewiston. The Pack invites relatives of the victims and the general public to gather to remember the victims. Several community leaders will be asked to speak at the ceremony and the Pack will unveil the bronze plaque.