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Fire departments from around Fairfield County will provide mutual aid to one another Friday so Bridgeport firefighters can attend the funerals for Lt. Steven Velasquez and firefighter Michel Baik. The two Bridgeport men died in a house fire Saturday. All Bridgeport firefighters will be considered off-duty from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and the entire department will attend the funeral. Thousands are expected to attend both funerals.
The funeral for Velasquez, 40, will be at 10 a.m. in St. Augustine Cathedral, 359 Washington Avenue. Baik's funeral is set for 2 p.m. at St. Nicholas Anthiochian Orthodox Church, 5458 Park Avenue. Following the funerals there will also be a congregation of firefighters at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Firefighters from Stamford, Fairfield, Norwalk, Milford, West Haven, Westport, Stratford, Waterbury, New Haven and Danbury will cover for Bridgeports fire stations throughout the day. Fairfield will receive mutual aid from Greenwich, Norwalk and Wilton.
There will multiple road closures in Bridgeport, and Exit 47 off the Merritt Parkway will be closed by state police from 1 to 4 p.m.
Parking lots will be set up at Steelpointe Harbor (Stratford Avenue and Pembroke Avenue), opening at 7 a.m. with shuttles to the funerals.
With Bridgeport also hosting the Gathering of the Vibes music festival Friday, the city is urging concert- and funeral-goers to take public transportation if possible. Out-of-state firefighters are being asked to take Exits 28 northbound and 29 southbound off I-95 and park at Steelpointe, where buses will take them to the funeral and later to Harbor Yard.
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