By Ryan Haggerty, David Abel and Andrew Ryan
Boston Globe
 AP Photo/Lisa Poole Somerville Fire Deputy Chief Steve Keenan holds his hat in his hand with a program and photo of Warren. |
BOSTON — He was their ambassador. The firefighter with the broad smile who sat outside the firehouse on Centre Street, chatting with neighbors, giving tours, and bellowing in a loud voice to fellow firefighters when their family popped by for a visit.
“The kids,” Patrick Nichols, captain of ladder truck 25, said in a quivering voice. “He was always handing out helmets to the kids.”
Thousands of firefighters and mourners gathered for a second day in a row today, this time to honor Warren J. Payne. He died with fellow firefighter Paul J. Cahill, 55, when a seemingly routine restaurant fire Aug. 29 erupted into an inferno.
“Saving lives by being willing to give up your own — that’s the one sentence job description for the firefighter,” Rev. Gregory G. Groover said. “More than any celebrity, star, or athlete could ever attain, you, Warren, have given our young people — you have given all of us — the perfect example of a true hero.”
Mourners spilled out of United House of Prayer for All People in Dorchester and onto Seaver Street, where speakers broadcast the service outside.
“This is supposed to be a celebration,” the Rev. Lee Mitchell said as he pounded the lectern at the front of the church.
“I don’t here no noise in here!” Mitchell yelled. “Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”
And then, Mitchell began to sing: “We need you Jesus. Oh, yes, we need you. We need a little more strength. A little more understanding.”
The day began with a public viewing as firefighters in crisp uniforms formed a solid blue line down the center aisle of the United House of Prayer for All People, holding their hats over their hearts as they approached the casket.
A black helmet, adorned with the number 25, sat on top of the casket. From a large portrait on an easel, Payne smiled that broad smile at his approaching colleagues, looking proud in his dress blue uniform. On each side of the casket, a firefighter stood at attention next to wreaths with red and white flowers.
Firefighters reached out and touched the silver casket with a white-gloved hand. Some saluted. Others stopped short and made the sign of the cross.
“We don’t forget,” said Jon Alberghini, a retired chief from Kingston. “We always come. We’re here to support those who support us.”
After paying respects to their fallen comrade, each firefighter turned and greeted Payne’s family, who filled the pews on the right side of the church. They hugged, wiped away tears, shook hands, and laughed.
Payne, 53, was a Newton resident and father of two teenage boys. Born in 1954 in Boston, he grew up in Roxbury and Dorchester and became a firefighter in 1988. He was assigned to Ladder 25, where he spent 19 years dousing fires and rescuing people.
The multitude of firefighters assembled outside wore badges from fire departments in Cohasset, Stoughton, Brookline, and Lynn.
“This is a brotherhood,” said Chief Arthur H. Pelland of the Abington Fire Department, who wore a white hat that signified his rank. “It could have been anyone of us.”
A giant American flag, hoisted from ladders on two fire trucks, was rippling in the wind. Lisa Casado, 29, came from Mattapan at 8:45 a.m. to stand on Seaver Street.
“The more firefighters I see the more my eyes water,” Casado said. “It’s so hard to find the right way to thank firefighters and police officers; their jobs are such tough jobs and I could never compare myself to them everyday.”
On Thursday, it was West Roxbury that was flooded by a sea of firefighters for Cahill’s funeral at Holy Name Church. A blue line stretched some 10 blocks down Centre Street, past the firehouse and the burned shell of the Tai Ho Mandarin and Cantonese Restaurant.
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