Proud, Sad Rituals Will Take Two Heroes on Final Journeys

Funeral Coverage Note: GoMemphis.com and wreg.com will feature live coverage of the funeral processions for the two slain firefighters shortly before the services at 10 a.m. and at 3 p.m. Visit their sites for direct links.

MEMPHIS -- From the placement of the flowers to the playing of the bagpipes to the 21-gun salutes, it has to be perfect today.

And it has to be perfect twice.

With that in mind, Jason Stevens spent Wednesday double-checking details, making last-minute checks with families and hoping that he and scores of other firefighters had done their best to be sure their two fallen comrades' funerals provide the utmost in honor and dignity.

At 10 a.m., thousands are expected to fill Bellevue Baptist Church for the funeral of Lt. Trent Kirk, 39, who died Sunday night when the roof of the Family Dollar Store in Frayser collapsed.

At 3 p.m., many of those mourners will return to the church to honor Pvt. Charles Zachary, also 39, who died early Monday morning of injuries from the fire.

"It's a huge job, and it's doubled," said Stevens, the Memphis Fire Department battalion chief whose job includes coordinating funerals for firefighters killed on the job.

"There's a reward in honoring these firefighters the way they should be honored for their service to the citizens," Stevens said. "We try to do our best to honor them and their families; that's very important to us."

It took more than 100 firefighters to tackle Sunday night's fire, and it took the same number to plan the two funerals.

The work began Monday, when committees were formed to help the families, arrange for traffic control, contact other fire departments and perform dozens of other tasks.

The city will have its normal fire coverage, Stevens said, because all of its stations must be fully staffed.

Attending two funerals in one day will be especially difficult for the firefighters, Stevens acknowledged, but he said they were scheduled the same day so that firefighters on the victims' shifts could attend.

The department has protocol for such services, said Stevens. It's used to guide families as they make decisions about rituals to include.

Among them are honor guards to stand at attention while the caskets and the victims' families are led in and out of the church, the 21-gun salute at the cemeteries and the order in which participants are seated.

Added to those will be one tradition that has moved Memphians as they drive near the funeral procession route. Aerial firetrucks will be positioned at several major intersections, their ladders extended to form an arch, with U.S. flags hanging from them.

And fire officials say residents should feel free to express themselves.

"It means a great deal to us to travel in a procession and see people stop, get out of their cars and watch," said Watch Cmdr. Bill Adelman.

About 20 departments outside Memphis will have trucks along the procession routes, and Adelman estimated that at least 1,000 firefighters from across the country will attend.

At Holliday's Flowers in Bartlett on Wednesday, florists were busy arranging sprays for the funerals. The requested colors were red and white, said owner Judy Long.

As she arranged gladiolas, roses and lilies, she thought about the people for whom the flowers were ordered.

"It makes you think of the loss, the incredible loss for the families and for the city," she said.

For Stevens, Adelman and other firefighters, helping the victims' families and planning the funerals take priority over their own grief.

"Your entire existence is placed on hold when this happens," Adelman said. "There is nothing more important than making sure these fallen firefighters are honored properly."

Tonight, when it's all over, Stevens will do what his fellow firefighters have been doing all week.

"That's when I'll have my chance to start grieving."

Inside the Memphis Tragedy