About 3,000 turned out Thursday to offer a final salute to a Maryland firefighter killed in a house fire in Leonardtown.
Naval District Firefighter Brice Trossbach 25, died after he fell through the floor of a house last month.
Under a bright summer sky, fellow firefighters from across the region and beyond turned out at Hollywood Volunteer Fire Company to honor him, WTOP reported.
Trossbach, who started in the fire service in Leonardtown in his early teens, responded to the call aboard the fire engine from Naval Air Station, Patuxent River.
Naval District Washington-Naval Air Station Patuxent River District Chief Cliff Montgomery recounted how firefighters at the station got to sleep in the hours leading up to the early morning fire call as the “best part of the worst shift of their lives.”
He went on to tell mourners, using Trossbach's nickname Brucie: “Engine 132 arrived on the scene and Brucie turned around and said ‘We got work, boys.’”
An emotional Naval District Washington Fire Chief Kevin Grinder spoke of the outpouring of support.
“The last 10 days, my faith in humanity has been renewed, even though my heart has been broken."
Jared Trossbach described his younger brother as a dedicated firefighter and his best friend.
“Whatever Brice did, he did 100 percent. Brice had the best soul. He could always make anyone laugh and was always levelheaded. When you saw the worst in a situation, he’d give you a positive.”
