They died in the line of duty: RI firefighters recognized for giving their lives in 2023
James Varin was a former college basketball player who lived healthy and stayed away from cigarettes.
Despite all that, Varin's lungs had far too much exposure to smoke by the time he was in his 50s.
He was a driven and dedicated Providence firefighter who worked in the same Wanskuck neighborhood where he had grown up.
Last year, Varin died of cancer, a condition that has been recognized as job-related.
Varin has been honored as a fallen firefighter by the International Association of Fire Fighters.
Last weekend, the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial honored both Varin and Robert Gardner, a Richmond-Carolina Fire District firefighter, among a group of 89 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2023.
Gardner, 55, suffered a heart attack and died after battling a fire on Jan. 26, 2023.
On Saturday, Varin, Gardner and other fallen firefighters will be remembered locally during a ceremony at the Rhode Island Firefighters Memorial in Exeter at 11 a.m.
John O'Reilly, 64, of Lincoln, a retired Providence battalion chief, is on the slate of speakers.
Details of firefighting
The fire station on Admiral Street is almost in the shadow of Providence College's Schneider Arena.
It's around the corner from the home on Eva Street where James "Jimmy" L. Varin Sr. grew up. It's where Varin spent much of his career. It's also where he worked under O'Reilly who, in a strange twist, had worked with Varin's father.
O'Reilly says he noticed that Varin paid attention to all of the tedious details of firefighting.
When O'Reilly remembers Varin, he recalls the way he attended to the truck he was responsible for.
O'Reilly had expectations, and he says Varin met all of them and more, from the way he handled more unsung chores in the kitchen to the way he jumped in to provide emergency medical assistance to people who needed it.
The firefighters at Varin's station called themselves the Wanskuck Warriors.
Fighting fires in Wanskuck
Of course, there was the matter of fighting fires and protecting residents from the flames, fumes and other hazards.
Varin had a knack for anticipating the way a fire response was likely to develop as he and Ladder 3 arrived on the scene, O'Reilly says.
For one thing, he had an uncanny sense of where to park the truck. A fire truck parked in the wrong place can cause lots of trouble at a fire.
The parking of Ladder 3, without any needed re-parking, is just one example of what O'Reilly describes as Varin's "fantastic gut."
"He just had a great gut," O'Reilly recalls.
Varin also brought an athlete's timing, body mechanics and other less tangible qualities such as determination and an ability to work with precision when tired, O'Reilly says.
One firefighting quality that's quite tangible is a willingness to charge into a burning building.
"Jimmy was not afraid to go into fires," O'Reilly says.
A firefighter's cancer diagnosis
During the pandemic, Varin was working as a captain and leading other firefighters as his father had before him.
One day, Varin felt discomfort. O'Reilly says he happened to be in the emergency department at Rhode Island Hospital that day when firefighters brought Varin in.
Varin thought he had an inner ear problem, O'Reilly says, but his condition at the time would lead to a cancer diagnosis.
O'Reilly says firefighters take lots of precautions to avoid smoke exposure.
"But still we have to do some things that put us at risk," he says.
Varin, 52, a father and husband, died on Feb. 27, 2023.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI firefighters who served with honor to be memorialized Saturday
