WORCESTER, Mass. - December 3, 1999 remains a night the Worcester Fire Department will never forget.

The community gathers every year at the site of the Worcester Cold Storage Fire which has served as the home of the Franklin Street fire station since 2008.

“26 years ago this evening, there was a structure fire here at a warehouse where the city of Worcester lost six firefighters," Asst. Chief Adam Roche said. "Six brave men.”

Firefighter Paul Brotherton, Lt. Timothy Jackson, firefighter Jeremiah Lucey, Lt. James Lyons, firefighter Joseph McGuirk and Lt. Thomas Spencer - the ‘Worcester 6’ are honored every year on Dec. 3 and throughout the year in the work of the Worcester Fire Department.

“The Worcester Fire Department's message is always we don't forget the members that have come before us," Roche said. "We try to recognize and honor them by doing our jobs, doing it well, making significant changes in the way we operate to make sure that the current firefighters are safe. But always remembering, both the families - the firefighters who fought the fire on Dec. 3, 1999 - their families, and the men that didn't come out of the building.”

Assistant Fire Chief Adam Roche said the outpouring of support in the aftermath of the Worcester Cold Storage fire is still felt 26 year later.

“This fire was extremely significant in its time. In 1999, there was an outpouring from the entire world," Roche said. "It was really recognized nationwide and internationally, through the IAFF and all of its members and really through the Worcester Fire Department, the city of Worcester.”

Now, as seven sons of the ‘Worcester 6’ serve in the footsteps of their fathers as Worcester firefighters and new recruits come in with every class - every year brings less firefighters who actively served in 1999, but the Worcester Fire Department will never forget those who served before them.

“With that said, the outpouring of support and the significance of the event is not lost on us," Roche said. "And we continue to remember and honor the sacrifice of the men that we lost on December 3, 1999.”

The Department of Fire Services and Massachusetts Firefighting Academy are partnering with the Red Cross to host a blood drive in honor of the ‘Worcester 6’ on Thursday, Dec. 4, at their headquarters in Stow.