"When we lose one, it affects us all,"

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - Nine caskets lined the front of a coliseum Friday as thousands of firefighters from across the nation, their hats in their hands, honored nine colleagues killed in a furniture store blaze.

With an orchestra playing a Bach air, uniformed escorts walked the men's wives, siblings and children to their seats in a long procession of red carnations, tears and hugs.

The fire Monday night created the single largest loss of firefighters' lives since the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Beside the caskets, the faces of its victims looked out proudly from large photos: Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson, 48; Capt. Mike Benke, 49; Capt. Louis Mulkey, 34; Mark Kelsey, 40; Bradford "Brad" Baity, 37; Michael French, 27; James "Earl" Drayton, 56; Brandon Thompson, 27; and Melvin Champaign, 46.

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. called the men heroes.

"It was their calling, it was their training, it was their duty and, unflinchingly, without hesitation, with extreme courage, they did it," he said. "They are public servants of the highest order. They want to serve. They want to help. They want to save. And they want to protect."

Gov. Mark Sanford said questions may always linger about a higher purpose behind the deaths, but that the men proved their courage Monday night.

"Who we are crucially depends on what we're willing to stand up for in life. In short, are we willing to walk the walk?" he said. "They walked their walk right into the company of angels and to heaven's gate."

The first of the nine funerals was planned for later Friday.

Before the memorial service, a procession of about 100 fire trucks wound through streets lined with mourners in the firefighters' honor, passing the charred warehouse and several of the city's firehouses.

"When we lose one, it affects us all," said Lt. James Diego, who drove from the Newport News, Va., Fire Department with several colleagues. "Most of us have suffered some sort of loss in our careers, and it's a way to pay back the people who supported us when we had a line of duty death."

Black bunting hung over the lighted signs around the packed 9,000-seat arena. With arena full, about 200 people gathered to watch a broadcast of the service at a convention center adjacent to the coliseum, and 100 firefighters, Red Cross workers and neighbors watched on a big screen set up outside.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the gathering that the nine firefighters "demonstrated the same bravery our nation witnessed on September 11."

"The tragedy of Monday reminds us that we live in a world in which danger is all around us," he said.