Behind Our Uniforms We Are All Human Beings

Service will recall downtown suicide
Memorial for woman who jumped from Tribune
FROM STAFF REPORTS



OAKLAND — The Oakland Fire Department Critical Incident Stress Management Team, along with Oakland Fire Station No. 1, will host a memorial for a woman who leaped to her death in downtown Oakland last month.
Mary Jesus Brazil, 33, jumped from the seventh-floor roof of the Oakland Tribune building Dec. 10 in front of a large crowd gathered on the streets.

The memorial is scheduled for noon Monday at Oakland Fire Station No. 1, 1603 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

Oakland fire Lt. Melinda Drayton said the memorial was spawned from a community meeting that found there wasn't an outlet in Oakland for people who witnessed her suicide.

She said it's the first time the Fire Department has held a memorial for a suicide.

The Fire Department is inviting all members of the community and firefighters, paramedics and emergency personnel to "honor and celebrate" Brazil's life.

Brazil set her Alice Street apartment on fire in an attempt to kill herself a few days prior to jumping from the building, police said. Many firefighters at the scene of the blaze were also on hand when she pushed away from the building.

Brazil was buried by family members in Turlock. In a note, Brazil said she had no family.