thousands of firefighters are gathering in san francisco right now to honor two firefighters who died in a fire eight days ago. >> this a live picture outside st. mary's cathedral where services will begin in about an hour and a half. you can see from their colleagues lined up and fire trucks there ready to pay their final tribute. >> right now you are looking inside live st. mary's cathedral where they will lead remembrances to honor the fallen heroes. john alston is live at

st. marmgs mary's and terry mcsweeney has more on how other departments are helping out. >> let's begin with amy hollyfield in daly city. >> reporter: this is mainly for the families so they can have a moment of peace together before they go out into this big moment this very big public moment. there are firefighters here, as well. some of them are serving as pallbearers. two of them will be driving the casket to church. san francisco firefighters built the structure that will hold the casket. it was a test project but it was a labor of love. engine 26 is the men that

carried them to the fatal fire, they will carry them today. engine 18 will carry tony valerio. one of the drivers is the man that drove them to the hospital last week. he says he is feeling pretty awful today. >> what they are having today is a celebration and honor of vincent perez and my brother anthony have a lerio. everybody is proud of what they did. it's totally amazing. what they've done four our family is totally above and beyond what we have expected. >> lieutenant perez and firefighter paramedic valerio were the first runs to rush into a burning home and they were

overcome when there was sudden flash over in the home. the last time the san francisco fire department lost two firefighters in a fire was in 1946. firefighters tell me that valerio and perez would be overwhelmed by all the support that has come in from fire departments, both locally and around the country. they say they have really needed it this past week and they especially need it today. the plan is for them to leave here about 11:30 and start making their way to san francisco. john alston continues our coverage outside st. mary's cathedral. >> mourners, firefighters from around california are continuing to show up for the service in about an hour and a half. streets have been closed off, geary boulevard and there are

dozens of firefighters have gathered and lined the entranceway to st. mary's. on top of them, two ladder trucks unfurling the flag in bodies arriving here shortly. in the next ten minutes, the bodies will be leaving that funeral home in daly city making their way up to san francisco. each casket being carried on an individual fire truck. that is not supposed to be an official procession that will be following them. funeral is set for 12:30. the mass will be celebrated by archbishop and three chaplains from the san francisco fire department. relatives of the firefighters will be taking an active part in the mass. one from the police department, the brother of vincent perez will do the first reading. valerio's sister will handle the second reading. the mayor will speak and fire

chief. the caskets are on their way back down to the peninsula to holy cross cemetery. there will be an honor guard and members of the family that will be pallbearers. 150 to 200 fire engines will take part in the peninsula. the service is open to the public, st. mary's has a seating capacity of about 2500 but 5,000 to 6,000 people are expected. there is an overflow area down in the church and also a place at the sacred heart cathedral auditorium where people can watch a live video feed of service. >> thousands of firefighters attending the services are not leaving their firehouses but being replaced by substitute crews who volunteer from all over the bay area. terry mcsweeney is at fire

station 7. a crew came from hayward to provide different kind of aid. >> they were taking care of business. san francisco is divided into nine battalion districts, each one of those districts is getting a crew outside san francisco. hayward taking care of things at 19th and folsom streets. this is something that no one has seen before and are praying that we never see it again. >> under a flag, they came to help. firefighters from fremont, oakland, san jose and el cerrito vallejo, cal fire and elsewhere. dozens of men and women folks that understand what their brothers and sisters are going through today. >> we can't imagine what it's like to lose one of your own. any chance we can get to help out san francisco fire department we're all about it.

>> in the streets of san francisco today, you can find fire trucks and crews that have never worked here before, like this hayward fire crew, their briefing was eye-opening. >> this mission district, one of the toughest areas as far as i'm concerned in the nation to ladder. we have overhead wires and buildings set back. >> it's not like the visiting firefighters are being told to fend for themselves. some city firefighters are staffing the stations to provide critical local knowledge. >> you guys are going to hang back in the support role so we can figure out what is going on if we have to up the ante or more additional resources, you guys are it. >> before and after every briefing today were on words of heartfelt appreciation for the firefighters that came to work

so many hundreds of others could say goodbye to two brothers that will come to work no more. >> citizens of san francisco should feel protected and proud of the men and women and proud of the fire service in doing what they are doing. >> all morning long, hayward fire trucks were right here parked at station 7, a very peculiar looking site. about ten minutes ago they were called out on their first service call, but it is the first time that has ever happened on station 7. as we heard on station 7, everything is safe and secure. life in san francisco, terry mcsweeney, "abc 7 news." this is affecting transit and bart is asking riders to help honor the fallen firefighters by reserving the last car of each train for visiting firefighters attending today's service. >> and today's funeral is expected to have a major expected on bay area traffic and muni riders.

several roads around the cathedral are shut down. >> that area will be closed until 5:30 tonight. after the funeral a procession of 50 fire trucks will headed to the cemetery in colma where they will be laid to rest. >> during that time, parts of market street and all of interstate 280 south from 101 split to san francisco to the serramonte exit will be closed from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. drivers are being sold to avoid that area. >> all muni routes in the affected area are being rerouted or cancelled. a reminder we will carry the funeral service live in the entirety. the begins at noon. the service will be streamed live at abc7news.com. also on our website we'll have the exact procession route, specific road closures and changes to the muni schedule. >> turning to other news, san jose police are investigating a huge fight that ended with two

people stabbed and two more injured in a mcdonald's parking lot last night. it happened on east san scar loss street near city hall around 10:00. police found about 50 to 60 people fighting. the crowd saw the officers they took off but at least five people were hurt. two teenagers were taken to the hospital with stab wounds. they are expected to recover. police are looking into the possibility of a fight was racially motivated. it appears to be a fight between latinos and african-americans. san francisco police are investigating a suspicious death in the city's haight ashbury neighborhood. they found a partially burned body around 4:30 this morning. investigators believe the person was dead before that fire. the authorities are not releasing any information about the victim. >> you are looking right now live at that the mortuary in

daly city. that is where the remains of the two firefighters are being taken right now from the mortuary and put on fire trucks for the transit to st. mary's cathedral where thousands of people are standing by right now. many of them in the fire services for these two men who died battling a fire in diamond heights last week. >> coming up, we'll continue our live coverage for the memorial. >> live picture of more than a hundred fire trucks waiting for the procession to begin. i'm mark matthews, we'll have that procession as "abc 7 news" continues. 

>> reporter: you are looking at a live picture from the mortuary in daly city where the casket of anthony valerio is just being

lifted onto engine 18. this is an engine that he spent a long time on many years on. his pallbearers are getting it lifted and put in place. they are preparing for the two engines that will carry these caskets to san francisco all week. they actually built the rigging that will hold the caskets on top of these engines that have to pull all the hoses out. they are working on it until late yesterday afternoon and even this morning they were spending time polishing and cleaning the engines and windows. today is the two firefighters' day and they want every detail to honor them. they will be driving these engines to the church in san francisco. this will not be a formal procession like the one you'll see this afternoon but there will be some engines lining the route. firefighters will be standing at attention. they say they know would

overwhelm perez and valerio and his sister says he was not a serious guy. this may make him laugh but the support has met a lot to the family. she can't believe she will be sharing it with 6,000 other people in san francisco. these engines will now head to st. mary's cathedral in san francisco, for a funeral that will go starting at 12:30. mark matthews is live in webster and geary in san francisco where the firefighters who will meet the procession there are staging. >> reporter: take a look at this pedestrian overpass and you can see fire trucks for five blocks, and another two to three blocks of fire trucks. they began showing up about an

hour ago. we have seen them from several places, as far away from lodi and arcada and i talked to several firefighters were why they wanted to be here. >> the brotherhood. we are big family and when one goes down we want to pay our respects. >> it's nice to see people from other areas come to honor the fallen. >> the neighboring department here and if it happens the firefighters here in san francisco and around the country that put the lives on the line. each day they come to work they don't oh noe if they are going to come home to their children or families. they have to be on top of their game and we are here to support the san francisco fire department. >> reporter: we will have live

coverage of the procession after the funeral from webster and geary, mark matthews, "abc 7 news." it looks like the weather is going to maintain. >> mike is in with the forecast. >> we'll take a look at the >> we'll take a look at the warming trend honey...? [ mom ] yes. honey, i can't find my internet cord. oh, i'll borrow hailey's. you're downloading movies. fast! from here? where is her cord?! we switched to at&t high speed internet and got wireless access. no more cords. wireless, okay, honestly, can i just get a cord, please? dad, the cord's invisible. [ female announcer ] call at&t today to get high speed internet for just $14.95 a month for 12 months with select services and a 1-year price guarantee. it's the fastest internet for the price. no home phone service required. oooh. videos online? here? how much is that? nothin'. at&t high speed internet at home includes access here. our invisible cord is really long, dad. oooh.

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welcome back. you are looking live pictures outside st. mary's cathedral and thousands of firefighters there as well as civilians waiting for the bodies of two fallen firefighters to be brought here from the mortuary. you see the fire apparatus, the american flag. people are there to pay final respects to two brave men that died in the line of duty. >> this is inside st. mary's cathedral, you see the flowers and tributes to the two fallen firefighters. for those who don't know, the two died battling a fire eight days ago battling on eight days ago. a room exploded. some of the speakers, the fire

chief. >> you are looking at daly city where the procession will begin. two bodies on the fire engines and we have reporters at the destination of st. mary's and we'll take you there in a little bit. right now, we'll check the forecast. >> it's pretty bright, a lot of sunshine as you look from southeast towards downtown, a very beautiful looking day across san francisco. as far as what is going on outside, take a peek from about 23,000 miles out and see how the clouds wind is going to get to all the neighborhoods especially a few that will hang around the peninsula and even monterey and carmel. temperatures 59 at half moon bay a lot of low to mid-50s, until mountain view and san jose, upper 50s and mid-70s in the east bay valleys. clouds are stubborn, upper 50s

around santa cruz, monterey and salinas and gilroy. we'll have a little stronger sea breeze, could be slightly cooler in a few areas, they will fluctuate a couple of degrees. clouds come back and then a huge warming trend for monday through thursday next week. 60-70 around the bay shore and upper 70s to near 80 in east bay valley. 50 in monterey and mid to upper 60s for the rest of the bay. giants game tonight, clouds will be coming in so let's hope they get it overquickly, clouds will be coming in. you see not much of a change over the weekend and then 5-10 degrees warmer with a whole lot of sunshine. heading to though, mid-60s at

lake level. i want to remind i the coverage of the memorial service is going to preempt all the soap open razz. today's episode will be broadcast air early saturday

thousands of people will pay their respects to two san

francisco firefighters killed in the line of duty. >> the two firefighters died fighting a house fire last week eight days ago. >> you are looking at live pictures right now of the route the fire trucks bearing their caskets will take. thereto is one of the fire trucks there. they are bound for st. mary's cathedral in san francisco where funeral services will be held. about 6,000 people are expected to be on hand for today's service, many of them are members of the fire service from across north america. >> here a map of the city route. it will have a major impact on bay area traffic. there is number of road closures near the cathedral, that includes part of geary, 15th and dolores street. >> after the funeral you should know that a procession of about 50 fire trucks will head to holy cross cemetery in colma where

the fallen firefighters will be laid to rest. parts of market street and all of interstate 280 south from the 101 split will be closed from 3:00 to 7:00 this afternoon. drivers are being told to avoid the area and there will be delays. >> a reminder, we will carry the funeral service live in its entirety. service is going to be streamed live at abc7news.com. >> thanks for joining us.