Thousands of people attended the memorial service of three Baltimore firefighters who died in a rowhouse blaze when the building collapsed and trapped them inside.
Lt Paul Butrim, firefighter Kenny Lacayo and Lt Kelsey Sadler were told on their way to a house fire on 24 January that someone was trapped inside the vacant building, The Baltimore Sun reported.
The general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Edward Kelly, said during a memorial service “they were told that somebody — some resident of West Baltimore that they had never met — was in danger of dying”.
“And they decided that somebody was worth dying for,” he added.
The three firefighters died when the abandoned rowhouse in Southwest Baltimore crumpled. Fellow firefighter John McMaster spent several days in hospital after being injured in the fire, which is among the deadliest for first responders in the history of the city.
“Today really is about them, and their families and lifting them up and supporting them, giving them the hero send-off that they deserve,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said on Wednesday.
The memorial was held in Baltimore’s Convention Center, and was attended by firefighters from rest of the region as well as from Chicago, Detroit, California, Canada and France.
“We thank all of the departments, everyone that has called. The president of the United States called me,” Mr Scott said. “We have the full support of our country and the world right now.”
Every single Baltimore City firefighter was out of service for the first time in history on Wednesday to attend the funeral, the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 734 said in a tweet.
Firefighters from around the state and from Washington, DC stepped in to cover.
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank all the organizations outside this city that came in this city in order for all of our members to gather here today and begin the healing process,” Baltimore City Fire Chief Niles Ford said ahead of the memorial.
“My goal, with our assistant chiefs, was to try to make sure that everyone who was working that day had an opportunity to come here and grieve in unity,” Chief Ford added. “And I just want to thank all those individuals who came — all the firefighters, all the fire chiefs, all the elected officials who made it possible.”
Last month’s deaths are the first frontlines fatalities in the Baltimore City Fire Department since 2014, when Lt James Bethea fell through the floor of a vacant rowhouse and later died of smoke inhalation.
Mr Lacayo, 30, began working at the fire department that same year as a firefighter and paramedic. Lt Sadler, 33, had worked at the department for 15 years after joining following her high school graduation. Lt Butrim, 37, joined the department in 2006.
“Just after 6am last Monday in the dark and the searing cold, when the call came in, Paul, Kelsey, Kenny — who were on shift that day — did what they had always done, what they were trained to do, what they loved to do,” Maryland’s Republican Governor Larry Hogan told the crowd in the Convention Center. “They said: ‘Send me.’”
“You have my deepest sympathies, and those of the entire city of Baltimore, and if you haven’t noticed today, it’s really of the entire world,” Mr Scott said, addressing the families of the dead firefighters.
Ahead of the service, the mayor said: “Today really is about [the victims] and their families and lifting them up and supporting them, giving them the hero send-off that they deserve.”
“In his own mind, he wasn’t anyone special,” the obituary of Lt Butrim, written by his family, read. “He did his job and took care of his family.”
Lt Butrim rescued an unconscious young girl from an apartment fire in 2015, performing CPR until she was safe, and was given an Exemplary Performance Award.
The obituary for Lt Sadler said she was “one badass firefighter”.
“Our girl was a go-getter, a DIY project boss, a best friend, a party planner, a lover of all animals and someone we all enjoyed being around,” her obituary said. “How lucky are we to have had someone that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
Mr Lacayo was celebrated for his “bright smile and unfailing good nature”. He received several awards for his work as a paramedic, saving numerous lives, including the life of a pedestrian who was hit by a car in 2018.
“He would always be the person you look for when you have a bad day because his infectious smile would make your day better in seconds,” his obituary said. “He was the type of person to work a 24hr shift and instead of going home to rest he would spend his time with family and friends.”
The January fire is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Last week, the reward for information about a person spotted on video near the scene ahead of the fire reached $100,000.
Following the deadly fire, the problems surrounding the more than 15,000 vacant homes in the city has received renewed attention. City data shows that a large majority of them are privately owned.
The city has worked for a long time to try to take ownership of the vacant homes, to either rebuild them or have them demolished. Mr Scott announced a review of the efforts earlier this week, according to The Baltimore Sun.
“Anything less than our very best attempt at solving the problem would be a discredit to the lives of the brave firefighters we lost last week and the residents we serve day in and day out,” he said in a press release.
