FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – On the anniversary of the day Battalion Chief Eric J. Balliet ended his watch his service was honored by the official unveiling of the Battalion Chief Eric J. Balliet Memorial Parkway.
Family, friends, firefighters, police officers, and local officials gathered on Tuesday to honor the fallen hero and dedicate a portion of Main Street downtown as the Battalion Chief Eric J. Balliet Memorial Parkway.
The City released the following:
“Eric was a member of the Fort Wayne Fire Department for nineteen years and held many positions of leadership within the Department,” said Fort Wayne Fire Chief Eric Lahey. “Battalion Chief Balliet became a paramedic while in his teens, serving as a firefighter, deputy coroner, and an officer in the Sheriff’s reserve. Within our department, he served in the fire operations division, arson investigations, and was a part of the Hazardous Materials Team and Water Rescue Team.”
The Battalion Chief Eric J. Balliet Memorial Parkway will run from the historic Fort Wayne Fire Department Station 1 along Main Street, past the Courthouse and Sheriff’s Department, ending at Broadway Street, where Battalion Chief Balliet performed services as a Deputy Coroner at the Phillip O’Shaughnessy Forensic Center.
“This special recognition of Eric’s service will benefit our community and will serve as a daily reminder of Eric’s service to his community, the sacrifice that our first responders are willing to make, and that success is dependent on perseverance and dedication to a mission,” said Chief Lahey.
