LIVE BLOG: Memorial & Procession For Baltimore's Fallen Firefighters
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A memorial was held Wednesday for three Baltimore City firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice when they died in the line of duty last week.
Mourners and colleagues are gathering at the Baltimore Convention Center to pay their final respects to Lt. Paul Butrim, Lt. Kelsey Sadler and firefighter Kenny Lacayo, a trio of firefighters killed in a Jan. 24 building collapse.
The memorial service was held at the convention center. From the convention center, the late firefighters' bodies are being escorted to Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens, a 70-acre cemetery in Timonium.
WJZ is carrying the memorial on air and online. Click the video player to watch.
Below we're compiling live updates from the service:
1:56 p.m.
A funeral procession Wednesday afternoon escorts the bodies of Butrim, Sadler and Lacayo to their final resting places at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.
11:58 a.m. Lacayo was remembered as a music lover who traveled all over to attend concerts.
His fiancee, Clara Fenelon, said, "I recently told him, I could not believe that life had done a full spin, and somehow I end up on top. I was on top of the world with my Kenny."
Fenelon said she took solace knowing most people spend their entire lives looking for the love she and Lacayo had. She hasn't been back to their home and looked at the laptop that still has their wedding guest list on it.
"I know this loss will forever change who I am," she said. "But loving and sharing a home with you, my Kenny, has been the biggest honor of my life, and I would not change a thing."
Lacayo's sister, Kattia Elizabeth Olivas-King, said her brother loved his family and being a firefighter. After falling in love with Fenelon, "he finally found the one piece he was missing to help him feel complete," she said.
And while the public now thinks of Lacayo as being a hero, she said she will remember him as "sweet and gentle and kind and always optimistic, even in the darkest moments."
11:39 a.m. Sadler's sister, Lacey Marino, said her sibling would have hated all the attention, recalling the time she was upset by a surprise birthday party.
Marino remembered Sadler as a confident, creative and supportive person who lived life to the fullest.
"Kelsey loved life, and she lived it like she meant it, all gas and no brakes," she said. "She was always up for any task or challenge."
Marino remembered talking with Sadler on the phone after a shift and hearing her say her fire company had eight calls after midnight.
"She was just a boss, she was awesome," said Marino.
Even though Sadler had said she never wanted to have children, Marino called her an excellent step-mom and "the coolest aunt."
Marino asked her daughter about her favorite thing to do with Aunt Kelsey, and the girl replied, "Everything."
11:28 a.m. Battalion Chief Joshua Fannon remembered Butrim as a firefighter who threw himself into every detail of the job and became a leader for younger members.
"He took them under his wing and taught them every aspect of fire service life, whether we're talking tricks of the trade, conducting effective search and rescues, ventilation techniques and much more," said Fannon.
He recalled the time Butrim was honored by Firehouse magazine in 2015 after he located a child face down in an apartment fire and performed CPR until emergency medical services arrived.
After Butrim was promoted to lieutenant in 2016, "he made sure firefighters assigned to him were always working on learning the fine points of the job and bettering themselves by drilling on every aspect," Fannon said.
Fannon also remembered Butrim's sense of humor, saying he had a dry wit and often kept a straight face until other people on the conversation started to catch on.
"Once he saw you smiling, he would burst out laughing," he recalled.
Butrim was a fan of the Boston Red Sox, Washington Capitals, but his biggest love was NASCAR, Fannon said.
Fannon said Butrim was a staple at races at Dover Motor Speedway.
"[H]is best friend to take was certainly his son Nolan," who died three years ago this month, he said.
10:54 a.m. Baltimore City Fire Chief Niles Ford addresses the tragedy in his department.
Ford thanked firefighters from outside the city for coming in to work on Wednesday, allowing the entire department to grieve.
"When this initially happened, 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, and celebrate the lives of these three heroes in unity," he said. "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."
10:45 a.m. Mayor Brandon Scott delivers remarks
The mayor said he hopes the love and gratitude shown by the City of Baltimore, and from firefighters and leaders around the country, has given the families and loved ones of Butrim, Sadlery and Lacayo solace and peace.
He addressed the members of the Baltimore City Fire Department in attendance: "My heart is with you as you mourn the loss of brothers and your sister. And I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for what you do, day in day out, to preserve and save lives in Baltimore."
The city the mourning the loss of three "of the bravest among us," he said -- "those who everyday decide to get up and not just face the danger, but run headfirst into danger to save strangers. It takes a special kind of person."
He quoted the Bible verse John: Chapter 15, Verse 13: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
10:42 a.m.
10:38 a.m. Gov. Larry Hogan is delivering remarks.
The governor quoted the Bible verse Isaiah: Chapter 6, Verse 8: "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."
On the morning of Jan. 24, he said, Butrim, Sadler and Lacayo did what they were trained to do and what they loved to do.
"On that tragic and fateful day, they said, 'Send me,'" Hogan said.
He asked all Marylanders "to find a way to say thank you to those who run toward the danger as others run from it."
10:17 a.m.
9:53 a.m.
9:40 a.m. Speaking before Wednesday's memorial service, Mayor Brandon Scott and Baltimore City Fire Chief Niles Ford said the city has support from around the world as the fire department mourns the loss of three friends and colleagues.
Ford said people from as far away as Canada and California have come to Baltimore, and he's received texts from people in England and Asian countries.
The mayor said President Joe Biden called to offer his support.
Both Scott and Ford said today is about honoring Butrim, Sadley and Lacayo after they made the ultimate sacrifice.
"Today is really about them, and their families, and lifting them up and supporting them, giving them the hero send-off that they deserve, and giving them the respect that they deserve," said Scott.
"Today is the day that we pay homage to the sacrifice of the lives of these heroes and and this shero, for all they did for the city, for all they've done with their family, for the kind of people they just are," said Ford.
