Station 97 Dedicates Shadowbox to Fallen Firefighter Glenn Allen

Members of Los Angeles Fire Department Station 97 dedicated a shadowbox and memorial plaque Saturday in honor of firefighter Glenn Allen, who  from injuries sustained in a house fire in the Hollywood Hills. 

About 250 people including firefighters, residents and Councilmen Tom LaBonge and Paul Krekorian attended the morning dedication ceremony and pancake breakfast.

Though the dedication was closed to the media, Patch caught up with firefighters after the ceremony who shared stories of Allen.

Allen, 61, joined the Los Angeles Fire Department in 1974. He had been at the Hollywood station for more than 15 years.

His colleagues remember him as a straightforward, hard worker who loved his job and his family. He could often be found tidying up the station.

“He worked very much like a rookie would work,” Capt. Kevin Mulvehill said with a smile.

Allen was a calming, professional presence in any situation, said longtime friend and paramedic firefighter Christopher Stanton. And neighbors remembered him for it.

Two days ago, Stanton said he answered a minor medical call in the neighborhood. After completing the call, he invited the couple to the pancake breakfast.

Hearing the name, the woman picked up her cellphone and clicked through the pictures. She had a picture of Allen on her phone from a call he answered two years ago. 

"Neighbors remembered him," Stanton said. 

That was also evident from the number of stories shared at the dedication event. 

“He was always there to give his best to the public,” Mulvehill said. “He helped and reached a lot of people.”

Saturday's proceedings also doubled as an expression of gratitude on the part of Fire Station 97 for the support from fellow fire companies and the community in the past six months. Firefighters said the close-knit station has been trying to return to normalcy, but it remains difficult.

Stanton knew Allen more than 30 years, and had been one of his partners for the past five.

Seeing the shadowbox, which was built by fire department carpenter Charley Pallares and contains Allen’s turnout coat, badge, helmet and shield, as well as a specially made wooden firefighter’s ax engraved with a dedication, on a daily basis is “very, very tough,” Stanton said. Allen served as a mentor to Stanton in the time they knew each other.

“It’s the same as losing a family member,” Stanton said.

But Mulvehill said the experience of coming together for the dedication had a healing effect.

“I think it helped us today,” he said.

A plaque bearing Allen's name has also been mounted on a column outside of Station 97, which serves Laurel Canyon. The shadowbox is illuminated at night for passers-by to see.

A college fund for Allen's grandson has been set up in his name. Those wishing to donate to the fund can contact Fire Station 97 at 818-756-8697, or call the Los Angeles Fireman’s Credit Union at 800-231-1626.