Photos of the huge blaze
Video: Coolstore fire burningKEY POINTS:
A procession of fire engines will drive through Hamilton in farewell to firefighter Derek Lovell.
A funeral service is being planned for Friday for Mr Lovell, who was killed as he tackled a blaze in a coolstore in Tamahere on Saturday afternoon.
One of his colleagues remained in a critical condition last night and another was in a serious condition in intensive care. Another four were also still in hospital.
Waikato chief fire officer Roy Breeze said a funeral service for Mr Lovell would be held in Hamilton on Friday, and a full procession of fire trucks through the central business district was likely.
A prayer service is to be held at St Stephen's Anglican Church in Tamahere tonight.
Fellow firefighter Blair Fothergill - choking on tears as he recalled the memory of his best mate - said he should have been alongside his friends at the inferno near Hamilton.
The senior firefighter at Hamilton Central Fire Station was on leave when his pager went off on Saturday afternoon.
"It then went off again and once more ... I knew it was really serious. I should have been there with my mates."
Mr Fothergill said the last time he saw Mr Lovell was last Tuesday after a shift the two had worked together.
They had been mates for about 20 years, but became closer through their love of hunting.
"I did speak to him a couple of times on the phone last week and we were discussing where we were going to go for our next hunt and talked about things like tactics, that kind of thing."
He said his friend was "a man's man".
"He was an extremely good boss, very fair and very courageous ... He was the type of guy that if you asked him to give you his shirt, he would end up giving you his underpants as well."
Mr Lovell's widow, Milli, told TV One's Close Up programme last night that she was proud her husband had died doing something he was passionate about.
"He was so dedicated to the Fire Service, he really believed in the good of it ... and for him to die that way, I'm so proud of him.
"That would have been the way he would have wanted to have died and he would have hated to have lived and seen his men suffering and dying."
Six firefighters from Hamilton Central fire station's Red Watch were still in hospital last night.
Senior firefighter Merv Neil was in a critical condition in the national burn unit at Middlemore Hospital.
Alvan Walker, Dennis Wells and Brian Halford were in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital, and David Beanland was in intensive care.
The sixth man, Adrian Brown, was on his first day on the job in Hamilton after transferring from Auckland. He was initially admitted to Waikato Hospital's intensive care unit but was moved yesterday to a general ward.
