BEND, Ore. — More than 100 people, including dozens of emergency first responders, lined Greenwood Avenue in Bend on Wednesday for a procession in honor of Bend Fire & Rescue engineer Daniel Harro and his twin brother, Mark Harro, both of whom died in a plane crash in Idaho on Monday.
An ambulance carrying the brothers from Idaho to Bend drove alongside dozens of fire, law enforcement and other public safety vehicles past the shuttered Pilot Butte Drive-In, where a large gathering of firefighters stood watching. Firefighters saluted the vehicles as they passed. Some dotted their eyes with handkerchiefs, embraced and sighed deeply.
“People haven’t slept since we heard this,” said Melissa Steele, a fire inspector with Bend fire.
The Idaho State Police escorted the brothers, who were 38, to the state’s border with Oregon, where Oregon State Police took over and escorted them home.
Dan Derlacki, Bend’s deputy fire marshal, said the large gathering of firefighters around him showed how much Daniel Harro meant to the department. He remembered Harro as a humble man who displayed great leadership qualities.
“He was a special man,” Derlacki said, looking toward the surrounding firefighters and saying, “This is his family.”
Steele said she met Daniel Harro several times. A new inspector in the department, she said he was one of the first people she met and that he helped her feel welcome. Steele added that she was impressed by the outpouring of support she saw from the department, and the broader community, on Wednesday.
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“Seeing all the people out here today, it’s amazing,” she said, appearing choked up. “Everybody deserves to welcome him home.”
The procession passed through NE Greenwood Avenue between Eighth and 12th streets and headed toward downtown Bend. Onlookers waved American flags, hugged their loved ones and looked west as the long line of emergency vehicles and their flashing lights crested the hill.
But within minutes of the procession’s conclusion, the many firefighters who gathered to honor the Harro brothers had hopped back in their vehicles and were gone.
