Family, friends, and fellow firefighters gathered Tuesday to say goodbye to a veteran member of the Fire Department who was killed last week in the line of duty.

Mourners, including Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, packed Saint Clare's Roman Catholic Church in Great Kills for the funeral of Lieutenant John Martinson. Thousands of firefighters also lined the streets outside the church.

Martinson, 40, died Thursday night while fighting a fire in the Ebbets Field Houses in Crown Heights.

He is survived by his pregnant wife and a 22-month-old son. Martinson was remembered by his brother and Bloomberg as a man, nicknamed "Johnnie Nice Guy," who always put others first.

"John took all his experience and skill and all his devotion and duty and his quiet no-nonsense bravery from the bitter cold of the Brooklyn streets into the blast furnace heat of a hi-rise fire in the best tradition of the world's greatest fire department, he led from the front," said Bloomberg.

"John was many things to many people, the extent to which I'm just beginning to understand. To his fellow firefighters he was a trusted leader, a lieutenant who strove to teach the younger members the skills they needed. What he meant to Laurie and I as a brother, at this point, has not been completely defined, because you never know what you had until it's gone,” said Martinson’s brother Steven. “And I truly believe that we will never know the extent of his influence on our lives, for I trust it will continue forever."

Investigators say a six-year-old boy started the fire by placing a piece of wrapping paper over a lit stove and then hiding it under a bed so he would not get in trouble. The boy's mother attended the funeral mass, something his co-workers say Martinson would have wanted.

"John would appreciate her good thoughts," said Captain Tom Reilly of Engine 249. "John would never blame anybody. He was there to put out a fire and that's all there is to it."

Martinson was about 80 percent done rebuilding his grandfather's home as a place where he hoped to live with his family. His brothers at Engine 249, Ladder 113 have vowed to finish the job for him.

- Amanda Farinacci

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