According to this news story, an estimated 5,000 firefighters attended the service for San Francisco fire Lt. Vincent Perez, 48, and firefighter-paramedic Anthony Valerio, 53.
After the service, the funeral procession drove from St. Mary's Cathedral, through the streets of San Francisco, to 280 to Daly City. The City had closed off the street for the procession, as well as 280 from Dolores Street through Daly City.
I took my daily walk this afternoon, which takes me onto Dolores Street. I didn't know what time the funeral procession would be passing, but I figured that I had a good chance of seeing it. When I turned from 24th Street onto Dolores, I saw dozens of people waiting on the sidewalk and the median.
I walked a few blocks up Dolores Street and waited.
Within a few minutes, we saw the beginning of the procession, escorted by two police on motorcycle.
The procession lasted between 15-20 minutes.
It was overwhelming, to say the least. It was a very moving experience, and I'm so glad that I was able to be there to pay respect to these two heroes.
It was so interesting to read each of the firetrucks, police cars, and emergency vehicles to see where they had all come from. The sfgate article said that firefighters, paramedics and policemen came as far as Rio Vista, Calif., to New Bedford, Mass. I was proud to see that my hometown of Milpitas was represented.
It's important to remember at times like this that people do come together to support and honor the service people who risk their lives to protect us.
The beginning of the procession -the first firetruck carried the casket of one of the fallen firefighters
The second firetruck with the second casket of the other fallen firefighter
part of the long procession
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