TOLEDO, Ohio — Friends, family, and fellow service people gathered at the Historic Church of Saint Patrick in Toledo, honoring the lives of Jamie Dickman and Steve Machcinski.
The two died in 2014 while battling an arson in North Toledo. Eight years later, and new Toledo Fire Chief Allison Armstrong still remembers that day.
“I was home and a neighbor of mine who is a coworker texted me and she said 'oh my god did you hear what happened?' That was the first I heard of it, and we got together and started listening to the scanner traffic, looking at the Twitter feed and then all this information started flowing through,” Armstrong said.
The owner of the building, Ray Abou-Arab, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated arson. He is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence at Allen Correctional Institution in Lima.
John Schnorberger has worked at Toledo Fire and Rescue for more than 20 years. He’s also a parishioner of the Church of Saint Patrick. He says it’s important to remember his fallen service members - all these years later.
“We don’t ever want to forget the sacrifices that Steve and Jamie made for the citizens of Toledo and for all of us on the fire department. I knew Steve fairly well. Jamie was new I only worked with him once or twice but we don’t wanna forget the sacrifices that they made and it’s a nice tribute for those that came out tonight to do so,” Schnorberger said.
Armstrong says she remembers what it was like working with Machcinsky.
“Steve was a great guy. He was a funny guy. He was always quick-witted, always had jokes, he would make you laugh. Just a good a guy.”
Years will pass, but Jamie Dickman and Stephen Machcinsky’s sacrifice will never be forgotten.