In their leather vests with patches and flames, a group of bikers stood out among the crowd of dress blues.
“This is our uniform,” said Jack Wise, president of the Los Angeles chapter of “Fire Hogs,” a motorcycle club filled with current and retired firefighters.
They were invited by the organizers of the memorial to honor Capt. David Rosa in their own way. Wise and his group of Fire Hogs stood at attention in a line with their bikes early on in the procession, he said.
While Wise didn’t know Rosa personally, he still felt the loss.
“It’s a family,” Wise said. “Losing a family member – whether I actually knew him or not – he’s still a family member. We’ve all been in situations like that where we had a seemingly routine fire that turns tragic.”