PORTLAND, Maine — The sky cried on hundreds gathered Sunday night to remember the six people who died one year ago in the city’s deadliest fire in more than five decades.
Parents and loved ones addressed a teary-eyed audience in Longfellow Park, a short walk from the site of the Noyes Street apartment fire, struggling at times to find words for their sorrow.
“It’s hard to sum up 29 years of a girl’s life — our daughter’s life — in a 15-minute blurb,” said Lou Thomas, father of the late Ashley Thomas.
Thomas joined other parents and loved ones speaking about the victims of the fire, all of whom were in their 20s.
“It’s the worst feeling in the world to lose a child,” he said.
The fire claimed the lives of tenants Thomas; David Bragdon, 27; and Nicole “Nikki” Finlay, 26. Maelisha Jackson, 26; Christopher “Miles” Conlee, 25; and Steven Summers, 29, were visiting the apartment. Jackson lived in Topsham, Summers in Rockland and Conlee in Portland.
The fire prompted changes in how the city handles building inspections and resulted in civil and criminal charges against the building’s owner, Gregory Nisbet. He also faces about $11 million in claims from civil wrongful death lawsuits filed against him.
The speeches from Lou Thomas and others Sunday were punctuated by both tears and laughter — but no mention of current news of the case — as they recalled the personalities, ambitions and younger years of the victims.
Lisa Conte Mazziotti, mother of Finlay, recalled a trip to beach with four generations of her family — her grandmother, mother and then 2-year-old daughter. Perturbed by the sand, Mazziotti said, her daughter bid an enthusiastic “Goodbye, beach. And goodbye, sand” when they left.
“My mother later wrote a short story about our day at the beach, so Nikki could read it and share it with her children,” she said.
Debbie Jackson, mother of Maelisha Jackson, recalled an invitation to come from Ellsworth to meet with her daughter and celebrate her 23rd birthday, just days before the fire.
“I drove down. I didn’t know it was going to be the last time I was ever going to see my daughter,” Debbie Jackson said. “We went shopping, we shared a bean supper, we spent the evening going through family albums and Maelisha showed me pictures of her friends and her life in Portland. She was so excited about her future.”
Jackson said that since the fire, she’s stayed in touch with her daughter’s friends through Facebook, and her family has depended on their support “during the toughest time of our lives.”
Ashley Summers, whose husband was hospitalized and died five days after the fire, said she never had imagined such tragedy striking her and her two young girls.
“I never pictured living in this world without this man,” she said. “Although they understand that it’s not daddy’s choosing, I can’t take that pain away.”
A block away, the house’s barren foundation was marked with flowers, stickers reading “Never Forget Noyes Street” pasted to “No Trespassing” signs and messages written in marker on plywood attached to the foundation — “Love you Maelisha,” “I love n’ miss you so much. -B.”
Scraps of caution tape were still visible amid fallen leaves and untended plants at the perimeter of the property at 20-24 Noyes St., behind a trampled green garden fence along the side of the property facing Freeman Street.
Above the park, hanging in a linden tree, the group unveiled a lighted memorial to the victims, called “Stars of Light,” by Portland artist Pandora LaCasse.
The work is made up of six three-dimensional diamonds of purple lights with an orb of white lights inside, which Allen Ewing-Merrill, pastor at the nearby HopeGateWay United Methodist church, said symbolizes each of the victims and their spirits.
“In some way, their lives remain entwined with ours,” he said.
As the remembrance came to a close Sunday night, a light rain fell and then passed and faded away.