One year later, fallen Houston firefighters remembered
BELLAIRE, TX (KTRK) -- Firefighters and officers rode bicycles Friday to honor fallen heroes from Texas, including the four Houston firefighters killed one year ago.
They were on a mission.
"To not forget the guys who have paid that ultimate sacrifice and their families," Brazos County Pct. 4 firefighter Joe Dannenbaum said.
But this is no ordinary group of athletes. These firefighters and paramedics are riding to remember first responders across Texas who died in the line of duty over the past year.
"It really means a lot to get all of these firefighters together to show that we haven't forgotten these tragedies after a year," Houston Fire Department Capt. Eddie Havlice said.
About 34 emergency workers from fire departments across the state are participating in this effort called the Brotherhood Ride. They're peddling from Baton Rouge, La. to Houston to remember fallen heroes like Captain Matthew Renaud, Robert Bebee, Robert Garner and Ann Sullivan, who were killed fighting a fire at a motel in Houston last year.
"It's a great remembrance for fallen firefighters in Texas," Havlice said.
The 34 first responders on the Brotherhood Ride traveled nearly 800 miles, raising money for the survivors of those fallen heroes.
Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of that motel fire that killed the four Houston firefighters. Renaud,Bebee, Garner and Sullivan died after a roof collapsed on them. They had entered the burning building because they believed people were trapped inside. Sullivan had only graduated from the fire academy a month earlier.
On Friday evening, after the bike ride, a memorial ceremony was held at Fire Station 68 on Bellaire to honor the firefighters who died in the line of duty, and some of their family members were present.
"I know the day she went into that fire, she was so excited. I know she was thinking as she's going in, I can't wait to tell my family, my friends I was in a five-alarm fire today," said Mary Sullivan, the mother of fallen firefighter Ann Sullivan.
Renaud's brother also attended the ceremony.
"It's been a long, horrible year. We tried to cope, but I don't know if it ever really gets better," David Renaud said. "I know a lot has been made of the anniversary that is tomorrow, but to me it's just it's another day that my brother's gone," she said. "This is day 365 of him not being here and me missing him."
Also honored were Lt. Eric Wallace and Lt. Gregory Pickard, who were killed in a blaze that broke out in a dance hall in Bryan.
"To not forget the guys who have paid that ultimate sacrifice and their families. That's why we do this a year after," Dannenbaum said.
Janice Deshazor supports them. Her brother Damien Hobbs was killed in the line of duty five years ago.
"Myself, losing a brother, I gained a whole different family with the fire department. I now have 4,000 brothers and sisters with HFD, and they are always here for us, and they've always been here for us," Deshazor said.
A private memorial will be held held with their families. The fire department says the cause of that blaze remains an active investigation.
