By Steven Ryan
The Boston Herald
Copyright 2006 Boston Herald Inc.
The Boston Fire Department honored the firefighters who lost their lives 34 years ago while battling the infamous Hotel Vendome fire with a wreath-laying ceremony at the place where the blaze engulfed the Commonwealth Avenue hotel.
A small group, which included two Boston Fire companies, yesterday attended the low-key event, which is held annually.
The four-alarm fire began shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 17, 1972, and it took nearly three hours to put it out, requiring 16 fire engines. Once the fire was out, the southeast section of the building collapsed without warning.
Nine firefighters lost their lives that day, and another eight were injured.