WE WILL SADLY MISS OUR DEAR FRIEND CAPTAIN JIM LAFFERTY

UNION CITY FIRE POLICE CAPTAIN DIES AT FIRE SCENE

UNION CITY -- Volunteer firefighters mourned the death of a longtime colleague Tuesday morning as they returned to the smoldering ruins of a house they battled to save the night before.      They stood, their hoses trained on the Ledger Lane when it flared again, near the spot where 68 year old, Jim Lafferty, captain of the Fire Police for the Union City Fire Department, had suffered a fatal heart attack and died Monday night November 14, 2005.      Lafferty, a Union City volunteer for more than 25 years, was working the fire grounds with crews from five area departments Monday night when he suffered a heart attack and collapsed on Ledger Lane at about 11:45pm.      Lafferty was taken by ambulance to Corry Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.      The fire Lafferty had responded to was reported at 10:19pm Monday in the two-story, wood-frame house. By the time firefighters arrived at the house, which is on a dead-end road in southeastern Union Township near the Crawford County line, it was engulfed in flames.      The condition of the house and the intensity of the fire forced firefighters from Union City and the Wattsburg, Bloomfield, Spartansburg and Elgin-Beaverdam volunteer departments to fight it from the outside. Firefighters remained on the scene unitl early Tuesday November 15, 2005.

James Elvis Lafferty Died while serving with UCVFD

James Elvis Lafferty, Age 68, of Union City, died Noverber 14, 2005 while serving in the line of duty at a fire call on Ledger Lane, Union City. He was born May 4, 1937, the son of the late Otto and Calla Smith Lafferty,      He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Shirley Weed Laferty. He is also survived by a daughter, Starre Tufts and her husband, Brian, of Union City, and two sons, James Lafferty Jr. of Waterford and Joseph Lafferty and his wife, Debra, of Titusville PA. He is further survived by ten grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, several nieces and nephews.      He had been a businessman in the Union City community as owner/operator of Lafferty's Heating, Plumbing and Air Conditioning. He was a member of the North East Baptist Church. He was an active member of the Lion Club. He was also a dedicated member of the Union City Volunteer Fire Department Fire Police Unit and the Erie County Fire Police Association. He spent leisure time reading books and loved spending quality time with his grandchildren.