Every year for the past 30 years, Helen Renshaw has attended Fallen Heroes Day to honor her brother, Henry Rayner Jr. who was killed in a 1984 five-alarm fire at Shiller's Furniture in Dundalk. He was 32.
"We come here to meet the ones we've met every year and to greet the ones that have just happened and to let them know that they're not by themselves," said Renshaw, 70, who came with her husband and 89-year-old mother. "They're part of the family now."
It was the loss of Rayner and two other firefighters in that fire that inspired the creation of Fallen Heroes Day, which marked its 30th year Friday.
About 1,500 people gathered at this year's event at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens to pay tribute to public safety workers who have died in the line of duty. This year's ceremony honored three firefighters and three police officers from around the state:
• Robert Fogle III of the Baltimore County Fire Department, who died May 30, 2014, of cardiac arrest during a training exercise.
• Lt. James Bethea of the Baltimore City Fire Department, who died Nov. 12 of smoke inhalation at the scene of a fire.
• Cpl. Jamel Clagett of the Charles County Sheriff's Office, who died Dec. 21 in a car accident.
• Paramedic Erik Steciak of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company, who died Jan. 6 after being struck by a vehicle that slid on ice at the scene of an accident.
• Baltimore Officer Craig Chandler, who died Jan. 9 after sustaining injuries in a November crash that occurred during a pursuit of illegal dirt bikes
• Officer First Class Brennan Rabain of the Prince George's County Police Department, who died March 7 in a vehicle crash that occurred during a traffic stop.
About 150 public safety personnel, including 25 honor guard units, stood at attention in ceremonial garb. The nearly two-hour event opened with a bagpipe-accompanied procession, the national anthem and an invocation, followed by remarks and songs by local officials and residents, a 21-gun salute and the laying of a wreath.
This year's ceremony was scheduled originally for May 1, but was postponed after the unrest in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray.
This year's ceremony was dedicated to John Armiger Jr., the founder of Fallen Heroes Day, who died in March.
Bonnie Kabara, 63, said Armiger asked her to sing at the inaugural Fallen Heroes Day, and she has sung her original songs, "Each One a Fighter" and "A Great One Such as You," every year since.
"I don't think I could put on the suit and fight a fire," she said, "but I can sing."
Megan Chandler, whose husband, Craig, was honored, said attending the ceremony was both overwhelming and comforting.
"You meet a lot of people who have gone through what you're going through," she said.
Chandler, 27, who has a 5-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter, said being among her husband's comrades was an opportunity to share stories.
"You learn new things, a side of him that he showed to his friends that I might not have seen," she said. "They didn't see the sweet guy that I saw. He was a great dad, a great husband."
Cathy Hedrick, who delivered the memorial address, has attended Fallen Heroes Day since 1992, the year her son, a teenage firefighter, died after rescuing a 7-year-old from a burning building. Hedrick said she returns to keep alive the memories of those who perished.
"Our biggest fear is that they won't be remembered, that after 23 years, people will start to forget," Hedrick said. "But they don't."