Thousands honor volunteer firefighter at Long Island funeral

INWOOD, N.Y. (AP) - Firefighters from around the country have honored the memory of a volunteer firefighter who died after battling a Long Island house fire.

Joseph Sanford Jr. died Dec. 23 of injuries he sustained at the Dec. 19 fire in Woodmere.

Newsday reports (http://nwsdy.li/1rzUEMN ) that thousands of firefighters attended Sanford's funeral Wednesday at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Inwood.

The Nassau County Firefighters Pipes and Drums Band played "Taps" as the 43-year-old Sanford's family, friends and colleagues entered the church.

Mike Lombardo, a retired chief of the Buffalo Fire Department, said, "One of our brothers died."

Sanford was a 17-year veteran of the Inwood Volunteer Fire Department.

He was employed by the Nassau County Public Works Department.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline, and their 19-year-old daughter, Janisha.

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Information from: Newsday, http://www.newsday.com