On October 19, 1996 Firefighter/Fire Policeman Eugene Bauerlien had been on-duty all morning at the Westminster VFD cooking for the fire department’s pancake breakfast. At about 11 am, he left the fire station, and proceeded to the Western Maryland College campus, located on the west end of the City of Westminster, to perform his fire police duties directing college homecoming traffic. Afterwards, Firefighter Bauerlien returned to the Westminster VFD pancake breakfast where he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Firefighter/FP Eugene Bauerlien was 72 years old and had served 22.5 years.