San Francisco’s Coit Tower will be lit up in red this week to honor two firefighters who died after battling a fire in the city’s Diamond Heights neighborhood on Thursday.
Lt. Vincent Perez, 48, and firefighter-paramedic Anthony Valerio, 53, were fatally injured fighting a fire at 133 Berkeley Way on Thursday morning.
“Coit Tower and its storied history with the San Francisco Fire Department is a fitting location to offer a tribute to both Lt. Vincent Perez and Firefighter Anthony Valerio, two firefighters who dedicated their lives to protecting the people of San Francisco,” Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement.
Coit Tower was built on Telegraph Hill in 1933 at the behest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit, an avid supporter of San Francisco firefighters and an honorary member of the Knickerbocker Engine Company Number Five, according to the mayor’s office.
The tower will be illuminated in red from tonight through Friday evening in memory of the two fallen firefighters.
“The Coit Tower tribute is a fitting show of honor and respect for Vince and Tony, their families and the other members of the San Francisco Fire Department who have lost two very dear friends,” Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said in a statement.
Funeral services for both men are planned for Friday.
The San Francisco firefighters’ union has established trust accounts for the Perez and Valerio families at the San Francisco Fire Credit Union. Donations can be sent to the credit union at 3201 California St., San Francisco, 94118.
Condolence messages can be sent to Fire Station 26, 80 Digby St., San Francisco, 94131.
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