Peabody firefighter James Rice rushed into a three-family home last December, fighting through heavy smoke, searching for victims. He collapsed on the second floor of the building and was carried out of the burning home by a fellow firefighter. Rice did not survive.

The same month, Worcester firefighter John Davies entered a burning three-family building looking for a person trapped in a rear bedroom. Davies was on the first floor when the roof, ­attic, and two floors above him collapsed and killed him.