A group of Garland firefighters is among those honoring fallen first responders in West by covering their shifts during funerals.
It's second nature for first responders to want to help, and it rings closer to home when it's a call to cover one of your own.
"Fire services are a pretty tight-knit family," Garland firefighter Levi Massicotte said. "It doesn't matter if you know somebody or not, they're still your brother or your sister. We're pretty close."
The Garland firefighters are joining a group of first responders from all over the state to man the West fire department as the community continues to bury those killed in last week's fertilizer plant explosion.
"It makes it a little closer to home," Massicotte said. "It touches you a little bit more when you know it could have been you instead, but I'm just happy to go out and help any way we can."
They are also bringing their equipment. The Garland crew is driving a stocked-up engine because a lot of West's equipment was obliterated in the blast.
"Hopefully, they realize they are not alone -- that other communities throughout the state and throughout the nation want to do anything they can and will be willing to help in any way possible," Capt. Robert Fultz said.
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"Our hearts and prayers to go out to the family and friends and the community that were impacted by this tragedy," he said.
