Fallen Baltimore Firefighters Promoted, Remembered

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Baltimore city fire department has announced that Firefighter Kelsey Sadler has been posthumously promoted to lieutenant.

The department said on the day of a rowhome fire in the 200 block of South Stricker Street that killed Sadler and two of her colleagues, Lt. Paul Butrim and Firefighter Kenny Lacayo, she was an acting lieutenant on the scene.

As the city continues to grieve for the three fallen firefighters, the people who are feeling the most pain are the ones who knew them best—family members.

Jose Antonio Lacayo, the father of firefighter Kenny Lacayo, described his son as good-natured.

"Oh yeah, always happy always smiling, always. Just unbelievable," he said of his son. "Doesn't matter what kind of situation he is in, he's smiling."

Jose Antonio Lacayo was able to witness the support from firefighters and citizens who lined the streets in Baltimore and Baltimore County as his son's body was transferred to a funeral home.

"It was really nice, it was something—a privilege," Jose Lacayo said. "One of the reasons I said a privilege [is] because I got to ride the truck he was in, he used to use in rescue squad in Wheaton. And I was riding in the seat he used to use. So to me, it was a privilege and it is just overwhelming."

In nearly everything they do, local first responders are trying to remember the fallen firefighters.

Baltimore's police union honored them in Washington, D.C., at a Capitals game, and surrounding counties have sent resources to Baltimore like a structural engineer and heavy machinery as the investigation at 205 S. Stricker Street continues.

As of Thursday evening, funeral services have not been announced for Lacayo, Butrim, or Kelsey Sadler.