The Associated Press

AP Photo/Al Behrman Pall bearers remove the caskets of Captain Broxterman and Firefighter Schira from two fire engines outside the Cincinnati cathedral, Wednesday.

CINCINNATI — Thousands of people lined the streets while firefighters and family members marched in the funeral procession today for two suburban firefighters who died while battling a house fire last week.

Firefighters from numerous departments joined in saluting the procession to a funeral Mass for Colerain Township Capt. Robin Broxterman, 37, and firefighter Brian Schira, 29, at St. Peter In Chains Cathedral.

Retired chief Arnie McCowen of the suburban Lincoln Heights fire department said the show of support was a way to pay tribute to the firefighters and their families.

"It doesn't happen often, but when it does we want to come out and show our appreciation that they paid the ultimate sacrifice," McCowen said.

"We're a close-knit community, almost fraternal," he said. "It means a lot with the war going on and the economy for so many people to come from all over the United States and from other countries."

Tunja Leisure, 36, of Cincinnati, said she saw fire trucks and firefighters congregating near the cathedral and felt she had to stop.

"The tears just instantly came to my eyes, and I was so moved I just had to come," she said.

Leisure said she would not go to the funeral.

"I don't think that's really my space, but I thought by coming here I could show how much I appreciate what firemen do every day," she said.

Luv Madina, 29, of Cincinnati, said she arrived about 8:30 a.m., more than two hours before the procession arrived downtown under overcast skies.

"There was really nothing I could do other than come here and show my respect for what they are doing," she said. "They work every day to save our lives."

After the funeral Mass, the procession was to make its way to Spring Grove Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark.

The State Fire Marshal's office has ruled that the fire last week started in the basement where the firefighters' bodies were found. The firefighters were killed after the floor collapsed, trapping them in the basement.

The ruling also said the fire was accidental and electrical in nature.

Broxterman, 37, was the mother of two daughters and the Colerain Township department's first woman captain. She was engaged to a former Colerain Township firefighter who is now with another township's fire department.

Schira, 29, joined the Colerain department last year after several years with the Delhi Township fire department also in suburban Cincinnati.

The State Fire Marshal's Office says the deaths were the first firefighter fatalities this year in Ohio, where five died last year and three in 2006. Nationally, about 100 firefighters a year die in the line of duty, the U.S. Fire Administration says.