ST. LOUIS — A street will be renamed in honor of a St. Louis firefighter who died in the line of duty last year.
The St. Louis Fire Department is hosting a street renaming ceremony Saturday, the day after the one-year anniversary of firefighter Ben Polson's death. The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. at 1400 Shawmut Place, near Engine House 13. The department has welcomed the public to attend.
Polson, 33, died on Jan. 13, 2022, when a roof collapsed as he was fighting a house fire in the 5900 block of Cote Brilliante Avenue. The building was vacant, but there were initial reports that people could be trapped inside. His death expedited a project the department has said was long in the works — the creation of a database of the city's thousands of vacant buildings so that firefighters know more about potentially dangerous buildings before they arrive at a call.
Polson was a graduate of St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood who went on to get degrees in economics, law and a master of business administration. The fire department described him as a hockey player, dancer and fisherman. He was working as a ski instructor when he chose to follow in the footsteps of his father, James Polson, who is a retired captain for the St. Louis Fire Department.
He joined the fire department in 2019 and served as a firefighter for more than two years.
The department said Polson was the first of its members to die in a fire in 20 years.
