Hundreds honor fallen Tahoe firefighter during procession
Hundreds of people lined the streets and highways near Lake Tahoe to pay their respects as a funeral procession passed for a 21-year-old Forest Service firefighter killed while responding to a Sierra wildfire.
Michael Hallenbeck of Shingle Springs was fatally injured when a tree fell on him Aug. 8 during the initial attack on the fire in the Eldorado National Forest near Echo Summit south of Tahoe.
The procession began Thursday morning in South Lake Tahoe, passing under American flags suspended from two ladder trucks on the way to Hallenbeck’s final resting place in Placerville about 30 miles west of Sacramento.
The night before, about 200 family, friends and co-workers gathered for a candlelight vigil at a nearby ski resort to honor the man they remembered as a dedicated firefighter and avid snowboarder.
