Firefighters say 'a long goodbye' to fallen friends

First came the street sweepers. Then scores of state, Boston, and Canton police officers thundered in on motorcycles. Finally, the hearse rolled up to the entrance of Holy Name Church in West Roxbury, where eight firefighters in their blue dress uniforms waited in a silent salute.

As police blocked off Centre Street and stood at attention, pallbearers removed the casket of Paul J. Cahill from the hearse and slowly carried it up the stairs and into the church. Cahill and Warren J. Payne died last week fighting a fire at a Chinese restaurant in West Roxbury. They were the first Boston firefighters to die in a fire since 1994.

"This is the first part of a long goodbye to firefighters Cahill and Payne," Steven McDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department, said yesterday at Cahill's wake at Holy Name Church. "A part of this pomp and circumstance is a way to say goodbye and let their families know that their lives had value. We want to give them a good send-off."

Later in the day, dignitaries including Mayor Thomas M. Menino and several city councilors offered their condolences to Cahill's family inside the church. Members of Payne's family, including his two brothers and his sister, greeted members of the Cahill family. Captain Pat Nichols of Ladder 25 said it was the first time members of the families had met since the tragedy.

For some mourners, the day began at the firehouse on Centre Street, where flowers covered the driveway leading into the station.

At Holy Name Church, the pallbearers brought the casket inside for a public viewing. A funeral Mass will be celebrated for Cahill in the church at 11 a.m. today. Payne's funeral will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow in the United House of Prayer for All People in Dorchester, following a two-hour viewing at the church.

A stream of mourners filed through the church, greeting Cahill's family and pausing in front of his casket, many closing their eyes in prayer.

"I felt like it was a very special person here who laid out his life for this community," said Margaret Hazerjian, who has lived in West Roxbury for 45 years and left the church around 4 p.m. "I just wanted to pay my respects."

Hazerjian said firefighters had always come through for residents.

"You just felt like they were always watching over the community," she said.

Yesterday morning, Cahill's relatives fought back tears as they watched firefighters carry his body into the church.

"It's just very sad. It's a terrible tragedy," said Joan Hamm, Cahill's sister-in-law, who was with her two sons, both of whom Cahill taught how to fish.

"We were a very close family," Ron Hamm said. "This is a huge loss for all of us."

An officer in a white cap escorted the Hamms and other relatives into the church, where firefighters in white gloves and double-breasted blue suits lined the stairway.

Family members gathered in a waiting sport utility vehicle and a van, and left the church around 4:45 p.m.

Gathering outside the church were dozens of firefighters who came from communities as near as Waltham and as far as San Francisco to pay homage to a fallen comrade.

Nichols called the community's show of support yesterday "humbling" for firefighters.

"It reminds you of what you do in life," Nichols said outside the church. "It's a job for us. We go out the door, we do emergencies, we go to fires, and we deal with the public all the time, and a lot of times we don't get too many thanks. Not that we expect it, by any means, but it's nice to have people appreciate what we do and show their support by this."

In a separate show of support yesterday, Speaker of the House Salvatore F. DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray jointly announced they would introduce legislation increasing funeral benefits for families of firefighters who die in the line of duty from $5,000 to $15,000 - including the Paynes and Cahills. The statement said the legislation could be on Governor Deval Patrick's desk for his signature as early as today.

"We hope this increase will help alleviate some of the burden on families like the Paynes and the Cahills," the statement read.

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com. John Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.