ARCHDIOCESE - Thousands of firefighters from across the nation were to gather at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains on April 9, joining local firefighters at a Mass of Christian Burial for two fallen heroes. Father James Bramlage, pastor, was to preside at the funeral.

COURTESY PHOTO

Capt. Robin Broxterman

The Ohio State Fire Marshal has ruled the cause of the fire to be accidental and electrical in nature. The homeowners escaped the house uninjured.

Broxterman, a 1988 graduate of Oak Hills High School, had been with the department for 17 years and was the first female fire captain to serve Colerain Township. She is survived by her daughters, Sierra and Courtney, parents, Don and Arlene Zang, brothers, Don, Doug and Scott, sisters, Jennifer Esterkamp and Melanie Pessler and her fiancée, Don Patterson.

Schira attended grade school at St. Martin of Tours Parish in Cheviot and was a 1997 graduate of LaSalle High School. The high school's website and a sign outside the school indicate that the school community is offering prayers for Schira and his family.

COURTESY PHOTO

Firefighter Brian Schira

He is survived by his parents, Peter and Elizabeth, and brothers Eric and Daniel.

Visitation for the firefighters was held April 8 at the Gwen Mooney Funeral Home. The funeral procession, which included family members and fellow firefighters, was to depart from the Colerain Township Administration Building , traveling downtown to the cathedral for the Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m.

Interment was to be at Spring Grove Cemetery.

The Colerain Township Department of Fire and EMS serves the largest township in Ohio, with more than 60,000 residents. It includes five fire stations with 180 members.

Hundreds of township residents turned out at Colerain High School stadium on April 7 for a candlelight prayer vigil for the fallen firefighters.