Thousands of mourners from across the state and the nation arrived at Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in North Baltimore on Monday to honor fallen firefighter Mark Falkenhan. 

More than 200 fire trucks and an estimated 3,000 mourners—including Gov. Martin O'Malley and Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz—crowded the North Baltimore church to bid farewell to the 43-year-old Lutherville volunteer firefighter from Middle River who died Wednesday from injuries sustained while fighting a four-alarm apartment fire in Hillendale.

The miles-long procession of trucks and cars that left the cathedral after the 11 a.m. funeral caused major traffic delays throughout North Baltimore and parts of Baltimore County as Falkehan's family, friends, co-workers, and fellow firefighters made their way to Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens for his burial.

A diverse array of fire companies were represented at the funeral. Trucks from such companies as Norrisville Volunteer Fire Company in Harford County and Bay District Volunteer Fire Department in California, MD, were parked along the northbound lanes of Charles Street. The street was closed south of Northern Parkway to make room for the trucks and the funeral procession.

Several firefighters at the scene said they came to pay their respects to Falkenhan out of a sense of honor. 

"It's a tradition and everyone is here to support [each other]. It's kind of an unwritten rule if you're not working you're at a funeral," Baltimore City firefighter John Henderson said.

Ryan Dumond, a probationary firefighter with the Washington D.C. Fire and EMS Department, attended the funeral with more than a dozen other probationary firefighters from that department.

"It's all about the brotherhood. When one firefighter dies that's a brother or a sister that you've lost. Everyone cares for each other," Dumond said. "In our profession there's that risk, and there's that danger so we all like to look after one another."    

Luke Thomas, a firefighter with the U.S. Naval Academy Fire Department, said the loss of a firefighter is felt throughout the community 

"[It affects] not just one department but [firefighters] as a whole," Thomas said.

Brian Brendel, battalion chief for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, led a group of drummers and pipers Monday that traveled from as far as New Jersey to honor Falkenhan.

"I'm very honored to lead the massed pipes and drums," he said.

Playing pipes has been a long-standing tradition for fire companies when honoring the fallen.

"It's a tradition that we pipe for the casket while it's in the open air," Brendel added.

And so the group played when Falkenhan's casket arrived, and again when it left for its burial place, the Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

Mark Gray Falkenhan was born Dec. 26, 1967, in Middle River. Shortly after he graduated from Mount Carmel High School in 1986, Falkenhan joined the Middle River Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Co. He rose to the rank of chief and became a lifetime member. 

Falkenhan then joined the Baltimore County Fire Department as an emergency medical technician in 1990.

He married Gladys on Nov. 11, 1993, and became an EMT-Paramedic the following year. He was an instructor at the Fire Rescue Academy and served at various stations across the county—Woodlawn, Dundalk, Golden Ring, Essex, Eastview and Fullerton—before retiring in 2006 to accept a job with the U.S.  Secret Service.  

“He loved his family first, but his life was the fire department,” his wife told Patch last week.

Fire Chief Hohman could barely hold back the tears last week at Falkenhan's house as he reflected on Falkenhan’s life and his devotion to public service. He first met Falkenhan more than two decades ago, when Hohman was the union president and he spent time speaking with those fresh out of the fire academy.

“He was so dedicated to what he did, and I could tell he loved what he did,” Hohman said. “You won’t be able to find a picture or photo out there of Mark that didn’t show that broad smile that went across his face. He enjoyed everything about his life.”

Mrs. Falkenhan said the opportunity to work for the Secret Service was too good to decline, and her husband spent the last four years as an emergency services instructor for the agency.

“Mark knew that the opportunity was a great move for our family, but he didn’t make the decision easily,” Mrs. Falkenhan said in an interview last week. “The hardest part was to leave his brothers behind.”

But he clearly found new brothers in the Secret Service.

“Mark is one of many Secret Service employees who volunteer their off-duty time to local fire and emergency rescue departments,” Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said in a statement last week. “Mark's devotion to public service was indicative of the strength of character he possessed, and we share in the grief of his loss. The Secret Service family is focused on supporting Mark's family and colleagues through this difficult time."

At the Secret Service’s Emergency Medicine Section at the James J. Rowley Training Center in Laurel, Falkenhan provided emergency medicine, rescue and fire-fighting training. He was also responsible for training Secret Service agents, officers and other critical-response employees to respond to life-threatening situations.

His passion for firefighting led him to join the Lutherville Volunteer Fire Co. about two years ago. He was taking a class on driving the engine at the station when the fire call went out last Wednesday.

The fire, which began in a basement kitchen, raced through the three-story building in the Towson Crossing apartment complex on Dowling Circle.  Firefighters arrived shortly after the 6:15 p.m. 911 call, and the blaze quickly escalated to four alarms.

Mark Falkenhan arrived with the Lutherville Volunteer Fire Co. and entered the building with his partner, Dennis Fulton. They were on the third floor when it's believed they were suddenly overwhelmed by a huge burst of flames known as a "flashover."  

Fulton escaped by diving off the balcony and sliding face-first down a ladder.

Falkenhan did not make it out. 

He signaled a "Mayday" distress call at 6:47 p.m., and rescue workers rushed to return to the third floor. They pulled Falkenhan out of the building and down the ladder, then performed advanced life-support measures. He was transported to St. Joseph Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Gladys Falkenhan said she knows the firefighters on the scene did everything they could to save her husband. She also knows he would have done the same for his fellow firefighters.

“He cared for everyone that he ever met,” Mrs. Falkenhan said last week. “Everyone he met was his friend and was so loved. We’re all going to miss him.”

Outside the fire department, Mark Falkenhan’s main passion was his family and spending time with his two sons. Mr. Falkenhan enjoyed watching his sons play soccer and lacrosse. He was also an avid Navy football fan and held season tickets to Midshipmen games for many years.

Along with his wife and sons, Mr. Falkenhan is survived by his father, Casper Falkenhan; his sister, Mary Lou Farnsworth; a brother, Eric Falkenhan; his mother-in-law, Etta Emkey; his brother-in-law, John Emkey, and several nieces and nephews.

Mr. Falkenhan’s mother, Gloria Falkenhan (nee Gray), died in 2008 while his father-in-law, Edwin Emkey Sr., died last month.