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West Michigan Firefighters to Attend Firefighter Funerals in Boston

Posted at 7:36 AM, Apr 01, 2014
and last updated 2014-04-01 10:26:13-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (April 1, 2014) — West Michigan firefighters are among thousands expected to attend the funerals for two Boston firefighters killed fighting a massive fire.

FOX 17 caught up with the crew of eight from the Grand Rapids Fire Department as they started the 14 hour drive to the East Coast, Tuesday.

According to the Boston Globe, some 10,000 firefighters from across the country and as far away as Australia are expected to attend.

The Grand Rapids firefighters said this trip is well worth it to support their brothers and sisters dealing with the loss.

“Two families aren’t going to have their dads,” explained Joe Dubay, President of the Grand Rapids Firefighters Union.

“We’re going out with great respect for the jobs they did and for the jobs all of us do every day. It’ll be very emotional. Firefighting is a family worldwide. It’ll be pretty tough for all of us.”

The visitation and funerals are set for Wednesday and Thursday.

The two men were killed fighting a huge, nine alarm fire in Boston last week. In addition to the deaths, eighteen other people were hurt, including other firefighters.

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