SAN FRANCISCO — Firefighters from around the country were among the thousands who gathered in San Francisco Friday to pay tribute to two city firefighters who died while battling a house fire.
Family, friends and firefighters from around the country were attending the services for Lt. Vincent Perez, 48, and firefighter-paramedic Anthony Valerio, 53.
The pair died of injuries they suffered while battling a fire at a home at 133 Berkeley Way on June 2. Perez died later that day and Valerio succumbed to his injuries on Saturday morning.
A vigil was held for the two men Thursday night at St. Mary’s Cathedral, the site of today’s funeral being held at 12:30 p.m.
After the funeral, the men will be buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.
Streets were closed around the city to make way for the funeral and procession to the cemetery. Fire trucks began lining up late Friday morning on Geary Boulevard, one of the streets being closed during the services.
The funeral has brought firefighters from around the country who came to mourn their colleagues.
Matt Vaitiskis, a firefighter from Boston, said, “This is what we do. They would do it for me, the brotherhood transcends nations.”
Tim O’Brien, a firefighter from Chicago, said last year two firefighters died in a building collapse in their city, and firefighters from San Francisco came out for that funeral.
“You’re looking at all my brothers,” O’Brien said. “We live together, eat meals, cook together, scrub floors, and at the end of the day we might walk into a very bad situation together.”
BART officials this morning were designating the last car of each train for the hundreds of fire personnel coming into San Francisco.
Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Mayor Ed Lee, and Bill Storti, the captain of Fire Station 26 where the two men worked, will be among the speakers at the funeral, as will Perez’s brother and one of Valerio’s longtime ambulance partners.
Perez and Valerio were badly burned when objects in a room of the house apparently heated to the point of ignition, a dangerous phenomenon known as a “flashover,” Talmadge said.
A female firefighter suffered smoke inhalation and minor burns. She was treated at the hospital and released later that day.
Talmadge said the initial fire that day appears to have been sparked by something electrical, but its exact cause remains under investigation.
Saint Mary’s Cathedral was filled to capacity for the funeral. Hundred of firefighters who couldn’t make their way in either waited outside on the plaza or watched the ceremony on closed-circuit television at nearby Sacred Heart High School.
Perez and Valerio were remembered by family and fellow firefighters over the course of a three hours ceremony that in included many stories that inspired both tears and laughter.
“Vince and Tony gave it all, and for that we will be eternally grateful,” said Chief Joanne Hayes-White.
Vincent Perez, a native from the Mission District, went from Riordan High to the U.S. Marines to SFFD Station 26.
“The amount of pure love I felt for Vinnie in that firehouse was overwhelming,” said Perez’s brother, Oakland Police Sgt. Alex Perez. “Right then, I knew Vince went to battle with the best of the best.”
Tony Valerio grew up in South City and attended SF State. He surfed the waters off Ocean beach and rode the wave to Station 26. At the funeral, his brother Mark Valerio offered advice to those in attendance on how to best remember the fallen firefighter.
“Tony lived life to the fullest and we should follow his example,” said Mark Valerio. “Tony died doing what he loved.”
At the end of the funeral, the helmets the two firefighters wore were placed in the hands of those they loved, where memories of heroes can forever be held close to their hearts.
Republished with permission of KTVU.com