Petaluma FD Pays Respects to Fallen Firefighters

A group of Petaluma firefighters joined thousands of public safety officers from across the state Friday to honor two of their own fatally injured in a San Francisco blaze last week.

Lt. Vincent Perez, 48, and firefighter-paramedic Anthony "Tony" Valerio, 53, were injured while fighting a fire in the Diamond Heights neighborhood June 2. Perez died shortly after the fire, and Valerio succumbed to his injuries two days later.

On Friday, St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco was a sea of blue, as firefighters and community members paid their final respects for lives lost in the line of duty.

"On the outside they seemed pretty different," Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said during the service. "But both shared an unwavering tenacity and unwillingness to give up on what they believed in."

Perez was a "fireman's fireman," Local 798 President Lt. Tom O'Connor said. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was big, strong, and aggressive; the rest of the company looked up to him, O'Connor said. One time, Perez ran an entire city block with a fire hose in search of a water source because his crew had encountered a dangerous fire that was burning above and below them. He saved all three of his men as a result, O'Connor said.

Alex Perez, Vincent's younger brother, recalled how his brother loved to restore old cars and go cruising in the Mission District. He was also loving and sentimental, despite his professional demeanor, their sister Maryleen Perez said.

"He got a great deal of joy and fulfillment from living a life of service," she said, adding that he loved the men who worked under him. 

" Mayor Ed Lee also spoke at the funeral, which was attended by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other elected officials. Lee said he was profoundly sorry to the Valerio and Perez families for their loss. "The best tribute we can give is rededicating ourselves as citizens in honor of them," Lee said.

He also thanked the San Francisco General Hospital employees who "fought valiantly" to save the two men. Several hospital workers donning maroon scrubs attended the memorial. Also in attendance were police and firefighters from as close as Oakland and as far as Dallas, Boston, Mexico and Canada.

Matt Vaitiskis was one of five firefighters from Boston who came to show solidarity with the San Francisco department. "This is what we do," Vaitiskis said of the trip. "They would do it for me."

In December, two firefighters were killed in Chicago when a building collapsed, said Tim O'Brien, another firefighter who had traveled cross-country for today's ceremony. Several San Francisco firefighters attended the Chicago memorial, along with others who battled snow and airport closures to arrive from other cities.

"You're looking at all of my brothers," O'Brien said as the police and firefighters waited for the funeral procession to arrive at the cathedral. "We live together, eat meals together, cook together, scrub floors together," he said. "At the end of the day we might walk into a very bad situation together."

In attending the event, Petaluma sent its reserve fire engine and used off-duty personnel, Petaluma Fire Chief Larry Anderson said. He also added that fuel to operate the apparatus is being provided by anonymous private donations.

This article is by Bay City News and Karina Ioffee