Mattapoisett firefighters repair damaged Cross, roadside memorial after rollover crash at same spot

MATTAPOISETT, Mass. — Mattapoisett firefighters repaired a broken Cross from a roadside memorial that was damaged by another vehicle when it crashed on Interstate 195 on Friday at the same exact spot where a woman was killed in 2018.

The vehicle in Friday’s rollover crash struck the roadside memorial for Ines Silva, a 44-year-old New Bedford woman who was killed in a crash there on Feb. 23, 2018.

“This morning our firefighters responded to a rollover motor vehicle crash with injuries on Route 195 east bound. After dealing with the crash, they found that the vehicle had gone through a roadside memorial where another person had lost their life a few years ago,” Mattapoisett Fire Rescue said on a Facebook post.

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Mattapoisett firefighters repair Cross, roadside memorial after crash on Friday at same location (Mattapoisett Fire Department)

Friday’s crash disturbed the roadside memorial, and damaged a Cross bearing the words “RIP Ines Silva.” Silva died when her car went off the road and struck a tree on I-195, according to reports at the time of that crash.

Firefighters took the damaged Cross back to the fire station, where they put it back together.

“Our duty crew took it upon themselves to bring the cross back to the fire station, make the necessary repairs to get the cross back together, repair the lettering and clean it up,” the fire department said.

Firefighters responding to Friday’s crash “also went through the woods on site to find as many of the memorial pieces as possible, like a teddy bear and other religious items to get the memorial back together. The cross was returned, secured in the ground with as many items as we could placed back with it,” the fire department said.

On Facebook, Araceli Silva wrote a message of thanks to the Mattapoisett firefighters for fixing the damaged roadside memorial for her beloved aunt.

“Thank you much Mattapoisett Fire Rescue, My family and I are so blessed and thankful. My aunt passed away on Feb 23 2018 and we usually visit every year,” Araceli Silva wrote. “All my family is in Illinois and this morning I spoke to them. They are so thankful. We appreciate it. The teddy bear means a lot it’s been there since 2018 and thank you for keeping it there. Thank you! Thank you.”

The fire department said the “act of kindness” from firefighters responding to Friday’s crash “was not going to be posted, but due to the amount of distracted drivers filming us this morning working on the roadside, we didn’t want the family to see one of the videos with us carrying away their memorial in pieces, but to know that we brought it back all fixed up.”

The extent of injuries of the person or persons involved in Friday’s crash on I-195 was not known on Saturday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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