Yellowknife (Mar 30/05) - Hundreds of Yellowknifers and firefighters from around Canada quietly paid their respects to Lieut. Cyril Fyfe at the Yellowknife Community Arena, Monday afternoon.

Yellowknife firefighters load Cyril Fyfe's casket onto a pumper truck for the final trip to the cemetery. - Aaron Whitfield/NNSL photo

Fyfe and colleague Kevin Olson, 24, died after a roof collapsed on them while they were fighting a fire March 17. Olson's funeral was March 24 in Calgary, his hometown.

Friends and colleagues saluted Fyfe as father, firefighter and friend during a somber, two-hour service.

Lieut. Mike Lowing, who was born in the same Saskatchewan community as Fyfe, said that "One of his greatest strengths was being a behind the scenes kind of guy who always got things done."

In honour of the fallen firefighter's distaste for the formal, Lowing removed his fireman's hat and donned Fyfe's favourite fedora-style fishing hat before getting to the heart of his speech.

Lowing remembered the recent borrowing of a ladder to remove snow from his roof.

"As was typical with Cyril, when I asked him for the ladder, he dropped it off" said Lowing, speaking in between two large photos of Fyfe set against a black backdrop.

The ladder is waiting

The snow has been removed, but Lowing said he will leave the ladder propped against the house because "a large part of me is still waiting for Cyril to come over and pick it up."

And even after his death, up to 16 people will benefit from Fyfe's donated organs, said Lowing.

Emphasizing that Fyfe was not perfect, Lowing only mentioned the inside of his "truck looked like a rocket propelled grenade had been shot into a dumpster."

After finishing his eulogy, Lowing asked the crowd to observe a moment of silence during which tissues and handkerchiefs were brought out.

The somber mood was interrupted with short bursts of laughter from the crowd as Lowing and Fyfe's family told stories about the fireman.

Niece Amanda shared one of her grandfather's favourite tales where a four year-old Fyfe tied a string from his tricycle to a tree in the yard because he thought it should be brought down.

After his father warned that he would get hurt, Fyfe sped away from the tree and fell down. He got up and looked at his dad, "but he never shed a tear," said an emotional Amanda. She described Fyfe as a "tough, fearless lover of life."

Daughter Jolene said her dad was "the kind of guy you want to brag about."

His partner Andrea said it "is truly an honour to love and be loved by this man."

His father-in-law began telling a story illustrating Fyfe's tendency to procrastinate through fishing. Unable to finish the story, his son finished reading his father's statement.

Fyfe's ex-wife Claire did not speak. Her brother read a statement.

"I'm a better person because of my best friend," wrote Claire of Fyfe.

The City of Yellowknife flag that had been draped over Fyfe's casket was removed by a nine-man honour guard from the Calgary fire department. After being folded up and placed inside Fyfe's fireman's hat, the package was presented to his family.

On the way out of the arena, Fyfe's son carried the hat and cap.

At the end of the ceremony, a silver bell was struck a total of nine times with three short breaks to symbolize Fyfe's last shift.

The bell's ringing echoed throughout the arena until seven bagpipers began playing from the top corner of the bleachers.

As the bagpipes played, those in uniform stood with their heads down and hands clasped in front of them remembering their fallen comrade.

Afterwards, the hundreds of firefighters and emergency workers left the arena to load Fyfe's casket onto a Yellowknife fire engine.

Meanwhile, the hundreds of people still in the arena sat silent for two minutes.

In the parking lot outside, some people embraced, wept, and pinned black ribbons on each other in memory of the two firefighters.