On June 17th 1972, a large fire occurred at the former Vendome Hotel building in Boston, Massachusetts. The blaze took about three hours to extinguish. The normal clean-up operation began, and without warning, the southeast section of the building collapsed. Nine Boston fire fighters were killed, with eight injured. Eight women were widowed, and twenty-five children lost their fathers as a result of the fire.

On June 17th 1997, a memorial was built across the street from the building in honor of the nine fire fighters who lost their lives that day. The memorial is a low wall constructed of black granite, and is draped with a bronze fire fighter helmet and coat. A bench rests in front of the memorial, where one can read the inscribed names of the honored fire fighters, and also view the Vendome Hotel building across the street.