By Clare Trapasso
The Associated Press
 AP Photo/Mary Altaffer Probationary firefighter Peter Mazzucco stands at attention during the funeral mass. |
NEW YORK — Thousands of uniformed firefighters lined a quiet street on Tuesday for the funeral of a lieutenant who perished in a blaze set by a 6-year-old boy.
Lt. John H. Martinson “was a hero who never gave a second thought about putting himself in harm’s way to protect the rest of us,” Mayor Mike Bloomberg said in the first of several eulogies.
Martinson, 40, died Thursday night after battling the blaze in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights area. Fire department officials said he was found unconscious in a 14th-floor apartment. Medical examiners said he had died from smoke inhalation and burns.
Investigators were unsure how Martinson became separated from firefighters he had led into the building, an apartment complex that stands on the site of legendary Ebbetts Field.
Only about 700 of the 8,000 mourners from New York and several other states were able to crowd into Staten Island’s Church of St. Clare for the service, a fire department spokesman said.
In a eulogy, Martinson’s brother Steve Martinson told the gathering:
“What he meant ... at this point has not been completely defined because you never know what you had until it’s gone, and I truly believe we will never know the extent of his influence on our lives, for I trust it will continue forever.”
Eight members of Martinson’s company, Engine 249, served as pallbearers. Three police helicopters provided an aerial salute.
Martinson, a firefighter’s son, spent four years as a police officer before joining the Fire Department of New York in 1993.
His pregnant wife, Jessica Martinson, sobbed as Capt. Thomas Reilly presented her husband’s fire helmet. The Martinsons have a 22-month-old son.
Fire officials said the blaze was caused by a boy who placed a shred of holiday gift-wrapping over his family’s lit stove and then, afraid of being punished, tried to conceal it under his bed. Fire officials ruled it an accident.
The boy’s mother attended the funeral on Tuesday.