‘We’re here to shed a few tears.’ Porterville mourns firefighters killed in library blaze
More than a week after two firefighters were killed in a massive fire that destroyed the Porterville Library, the Tulare County community continues to mourn the losses.
On Friday, Ramon Clemente Figueroa and Patrick Lee Jones got a final procession and public memorial, attended by more than 2,000 people — family, friends, firefighters and first responders from across the country.
As the procession, led by a pipe and drum band, arrived at the Porterville Church of the Nazarene, members of the Porterville and Tulare County fire departments along with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office stood in full dress uniform with the community beside them, gathered in groups on the sidewalk and street median.
A single snare drum could be heard echoing over the chirping of birds as the band marched under a giant American flag draped between two fire engines.
Chick Cerniga watched as the procession made its way to the church. Hands clutched to her chest, she was visibly moved by the sight. She drove in from Springville with husband Ray Cerniga. The pair didn’t know if they would get into the church, given the crowd.
“We just wanted to take some time from our lives to be here,” Ray Cerniga said.
An hour later, people were still filing into the church, filling the main sanctuary and two outer rooms, where the services were streamed live on monitors for the overflow crowd to watch.
Ultimate sacrifice at library fire
Steve Walker, a chaplain with the Porterville Fire Department, began the services by reminding the crowd that being a firefighter is about answering a call to service — even if it means leaving a plate of just-cooked food or sacrificing hours of sleep.
It is about self-sacrifice and bravery in the face of fear: “It means running into what others run out of,” Walker said.
In this case, Figueroa, a captain in the Porterville Fire Department, and Jones, a firefighter for the department who was training to be an engineer, made the ultimate sacrifice.
“Sometimes,” Walker said, “the fire wins.”
Figueroa, 35, and Jones, 25, were killed while trying to ensure no one was trapped inside the library during the raging fire, Porterville Fire Chief Dave Lapere said last week.
Authorities believe the fire was intentionally set by two 13-year-old Porterville boys. They have been arrested and charged with murder and arson, and are scheduled to return to juvenile court March 11.
City officials have said the 67-year-old library had been in critical need of fire upgrades and plans had begun to replace it with a new building.
Firefighters remembered
The service lasted more than an hour and those in attendance came away with a sense of the firefighters through photo-and-video montages of each, along with remembrances from their friends and family.
Figueroa was remembered as a doting father to two children — a boy and girl — who was fond of tagging social media posts #dadlife. He was a Boy Scout and an outdoorsman with a love for weightlifting, earned at his parents’ gym.
He was first called to his profession as a junior in high school, after the 9/11 attacks.
“I wanted to be a first responder on that day,” said his sister Rosanna Natividad, reading from one of Figuerora’s Facebook posts.
Mike Waters recalled Jones, or Jonesy as he called him, from his time as a student at El Diamante High School in Visalia. Waters was the school principal for Jones’ senior year.
Waters shared several stories that painted Jones as a bit of a prankster. He was also relentless when needed. During that senior year, he seriously injured his leg playing football.
Jones was told it would take a full year to recoup. Within months, he was playing baseball, Waters said.
Jones was a loving brother, son and fiance, Waters said. More than anything, Jones cared about people and wanted to be everybody’s friend.
Those he went into that library to protect, “they weren’t just people to Patrick,” Waters said. “They were his friends.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 4:20 PM.