Solemn days resonates across San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The procession to San Francisco began Friday morning at Duggan's mortuary in Daly City, with the flag-draped caskets carrying Vincent Perez and Anthony Valerio were placed on fire engines for the trip. They had an escort of 200 fire trucks and engines.

For five blocks, hundreds of fire trucks lined Geary Boulevard two-by-two Friday morning, as thousands of firefighters arrived in San Francisco to pay their respects.

Motorcyle police cleared the streets for the two fire engines carrying the caskets of Perez and Valerio. Engine 26 and Engine 18 moving slowly around the corner from Webster Street up Geary Boulevard to the St. Mary's Cathedral.

Inside the Cafe Trieste at Gough and Market streets, the funeral coverage played on multiple screens. While customers in the cafe did not seem to pay much attention, the employees felt just watching was a way they could show their solidarity.

"These firefighters are heroes and it's just good for people to know what they stand for and what's going on," Zach Bookah said.

After the funeral, the procession moved down Geary Boulevard to Market Street and then south on Valencia toward the cemetery in Colma.

Residents watched and talked about the roll firefighters play and their place in the community.

"They don't care who we are, what walk of life we are, they just put their lives on the line every single day for us," one person said.

>> VIDEO ARCHIVE: Watch unedited video of the funeral services here

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sffd, san francisco news, mark matthews

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