Fallen Boston Firefighters Honored In Special Ceremony

BOSTON (CBS) -- Dozens of active and retired Boston firefighters gathered Sunday to honor fallen members of the department.

The fire department's a capella quartet sang "The Fireman's Prayer" as the graves of those who died in the line of duty were decorated with flowers at Forest Hills Cemetery.

"Today we are here to honor the memory of all Boston firefighters who have gone before us," Fire Commissioner Joseph Finn said. "They were brave, honorable, dedicated and altruistic men, and were firefighters who believed in something greater than themselves."

The first firefighters to be interred at the Fireman's Lot were hoseman John Tuttle and hoseman Francis Cutting, both killed in the line of duty in 1858.

The last firefighter laid to rest there was firefighter Michael Kennedy, killed in a Back Bay fire in 2014.

"Some 156 years separate sacrifices to the citizens of Boston," Finn said. "Yet we come together to remember them and the other 145 members buried alongside them."

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports: 

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• Kim Tunnicliffe