A Black History Month observance Thursday honored the first Black firefighter in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Noting the ranks of the Springfield Fire Department are now more than 50 percent minority and that three Blacks have been promoted to district chief since January, Mayor Domenic Sarno called Leonard Corbin “ the Jackie Robinson of the Springfield Fire Department.”
"Lenny Corbin, who was much much respected, admired, a firefighter's firefighter," said Sarno.
Corbin joined the fire department in 1969, a time of violent racial strife in Springfield and the country.
A permanent memorial to Corbin was dedicated at the Mason Square Fire Station in 2009, a year after he died.