Firefighters pay tribute to comrade who gave his life

"He will always be my baby," she wrote, adding that he was "her little turtle."

"He had a hard shell on the outside, but was soft on the inside," she wrote. "He'd do anything for anyone he loved, and he wore that shell well."

Lou Aldana, who met Lovrien when they both started working as firefighters more than a decade ago, drew laughs as he recounted a misadventure that occurred when the two ended up in a patch of poison ivy while taking a shortcut on a mountain biking trip.

His friend, Aldana said, had a "true sense of loyalty."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa addressed the crowd, noting that Lovrien's fellow firefighters told him, "Brent would do anything for a friend, but even more for a stranger."

"You can't teach that instinct," Villaraigosa said. "Heroism comes from the heart."

During the city Fire Department's 126-year history, 72 firefighters have died in the line of duty, the last one in 2004, fire officials said.

"A ceremony like this lets the public into our world and reminds of us all the support we have out there," city Firefighter George Ostrovsky said.

As the service came to a close, city fire Chaplain George Negrete asked the firefighters to renew their oath in honor of Lovrien's sacrifice.

Calling it "the first time ever" in department history that such a gesture would be made for a fallen firefighter, Negrete asked colleagues with other departments from San Francisco to San Diego to quietly recite their own oaths.

"I do solemnly swear," thousands of firefighters said, their voices resonating, "that I will faithfully serve the city of Los Angeles in the discharge of my duties as a firefighter to the best of my knowledge and ability, so help me God."

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francisco.varaorta@latimes.com