12-Year-Old Will Honor Fallen Firefighters

TIMONIUM, Md. (WJZ) -- This year will mark the 31st time Maryland's police and fire community has gathered at the Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens to honor those who have passed.

As Mike Schuh reports, a 12-year-old with deep ties to a firefighting family will be at the center of attention.

Olivia Lockett is just 12 but her voice has gotten her invitations to sing in public.

Her performance at the Star Spangled Spectacular has led to her being asked to sing at an event this week. She has a beautiful voice but there's a deeper connection.

"My father, my uncle, my grandfather---he's retired---and my great-grandfather," she said.

All are or were firefighters. It's over a hundred years of service and her great-grandfather, Jim Gallagher, died on the job. The house where he died in 1961 still stands. It was only a one-alarm fire but something went wrong and after the fire was put out, firefighters found him floating in water in the basement. He'd died of smoke inhalation. His daughter, Lois, was just 13.

"And the house just got so quiet. It's like, `Wow, there's no life left in the house,'" Lois said.

Now her dad is being honored this week as a fallen hero.

Olivia will be singing the national anthem.

"I feel like I kind of know him throughout my father, my grandfather and my uncle," Olivia said. "I feel like I kind of know him through them."

The Fallen Heroes Day will be held Friday at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.