October 3, 2012 marked Worcester Fire Headquarters unveiling of the revival of the canteen service which used to cater to firefighters at large fire scenes. The organization has officially chosen Box 4 as its new name. The name stems from a fire in the 1920’s at the corner of Main & Franklin Streets. Box 4 was pulled for that fire which turned into a general alarm fire that burned for13 hours before being brought under control. The damage was estimated $2,000,000.00 in the 1920’s.

January 21, 1921, a group of men decided to create a service that would take care of it’s firefighters who worked long hours fighting big fires with coffee, blankets and more. This company stayed active until 1963 when it disbanded. Now a group of dedicated active and retired firefighters have decided to bring the canteen service back to life. Ff Steve Favulli, a 30 year veteran of Worcester Fire Department’s Ladder 1 and Angelo Bongovio retired from Engine 12, were instrumental in reviving this service. The canteen service is run by volunteers who respond primarily to Worcester fire scenes but is now being expanded to service the Central Ma area. According to Favulli, the canteen will respond to any city or town that wants our service. It will be available for fires, SWAT incidents, drownings or any type of incident that requires emergency personnel to work longer hours.

Even more exciting was the announcement that Dunkin Donuts Corporation of Canton Ma donated $250,000 for the building of the new canteen truck. Additionally, Rob Branca, President of Worcester area Dunkin Donuts donated $25,000 a year for “up keep” the truck. The truck is being built at this time and will be delivered sometime in early 2013. The next step is finding a suitable place for the service to run out of.
Please contact Steve Favulli @ 508-612-0096 or via email at [email protected] for more information or if you are interested in volunteering.