Fire Chief: 'My Heart is With Them'

The has been asked to help cover some of Worcester’s fire stations during the funeral for Worcester firefighter Jon Davies.

“My heart is with them,’’ Grafton Fire Chief Michael Gauthier said today of the Davies family and members of the Worcester Fire Department.

“It’s a brotherhood,’’ he said. “It affects us all.’’

Davies was killed in a fire Thursday morning at 49 Arlington St., Worcester. His fellow firefighter, Brian Carroll, was injured and remains hospitalized. Fire officials have said his prognosis is good.

About 10,000 firefighters from throughout the country are expected for Davies’ funeral, Gauthier said. No date has been publicly announced.

Gauthier hopes to attend, but he has to balance his desire to pay his respects with his need to ensure that Grafton has ample coverage that day, he said.

He said he cannot imagine how the incident commander must feel. Davies and Carroll went back into the burning building to search after witnesses reported that someone might still be inside.

Davies was killed and Carroll seriously injured when the building then collapsed.

“I pray to God every day that I never have to encounter that,’’ he said. “I can’t say I know how they feel. I don’t ever want to know how they feel.’’

The loss of a young firefighter, who is survived by three children, his mother, brother, sister and fiancée, is painful, Gauthier said.

Davies was 43. “He had his whole life ahead’’ of him, Gauthier said.