Glenn Allen, 61, was a 36-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department. (Photo Courtesy LAFD)
Hundreds of firefighters, officers, and dignitaries marched through the streets of Downtown Los Angeles Friday morning in honor of L.A. Fire Department firefighter Glenn Allen who died while fighting a fire at a mansion in Hollywood Hills.
The procession began at City Hall and ended at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. About 8,000 people gathered for the procession, and an estimated 3,500, including Gov. Jerry Brown, filled the cathedral to pay their respects to the 36-year veteran of the LAFD.
The President of United Firefightes of Los Angeles, Pat McOsker, speaks about firefighters as "givers" in a speech at Allen's funeral. (Video shot by Kiran Alvi)
"He was very much a family man,” LAFD Capt. Tina Haro said. “He was thrilled about his new grandchild that he missed by just about a day.”
Allen was just one year a way from retirement, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke at the funeral about the family legacy of firefighters that Allen is a part of with his father also dedicating his life “to the most selfless public service there is--saving other people who find themselves in harms way.”
A flag was draped over Allen’s casket, and it was placed on one of the fire trucks from the station at which he worked, Fire Station 97. Firefighters from cities as far as Corona lined the streets as the procession made its way to the cathedral. It was carried into the cathedral by pallbearers and followed by bagpipers.
“Last week, the Los Angeles Fire Department, the L.A. County Fire Department, responded to a call not knowing what tragedy would befall them there,” Villaraigosa said.
A ceiling collapsed on Allen, 61, and five other firefighters lat Feb. 16 while they were fighting the fire on the 1500 block of North Viewsite Drive. He died on Friday, Feb. 18, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
“It does often go unnoticed the things that we do in the dead of night,” the president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles, Pat McOsker. “I would say that in a word, firefighters are givers. They are servants of God.”
The site of the fire was declared a crime scene and is under investigation as authorities look into whether building codes were violated.
Allen was the first LAFD firefighter to be killed in the line of duty since Bret Levrien was killed in an explosion near Los Angeles in March 2008.
Allen is survived by his wife, melanie; his daughter, Rebecca McPhee, his son-in-law, Brandon McPhe, his grandson; his mother, Alberta Holtze; his borther, Bruce Allen; and his sister, Deborah Abrams.
