Among those buried were senior members of the New York City Fire Department which has lost up to 300 members

Among those buried were senior members of the New York City Fire Department, which has lost up to 300 members. Fire Department Chief Peter Ganci, the First Deputy Fire Commissioner, William Feehan, and Father Mychal Judge, the department’s chaplain, were laid to rest in services attended by hundreds of firefighters and police officers. Normally, thousands of colleagues in uniforms and white gloves attend such services but the reduced numbers were evidence of the continuing efforts to search the rubble where the World Trade Centre used to be.Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said: “Today was a very solemn and difficult day in New York City, with the three funerals we had for Bill Feehan, for Pete Ganci and for Father Judge. Unfortunately, it is an indication of what we are probably going to face in the future They are heroes They are like the heroes we had at Pearl Harbor.

Each one of them were trying to save lives.”Mr Ganci,54, was a 33-year veteran of the department. His white chief’s helmet lay on his casket during the service in Farmingdale, on Long Island. He survived the first tower’s collapse and ordered the fire command post north. He then ran south to make sure everyone was evacuated and was killed when the second tower came down. Father Mychal Judge, 68, was killed by falling debris while administering last rites to a dying firefighter. At the Church of St Francis of Asissi in midtown Manhattan, Father Michael Duffy said Fr Judge loved to be amongthe action. “He loved his fire department and all the men in it,” he said.

“And that’s the way it was when he died on Tuesday.” Senator Hillary Clinton recalled that she and former president Bill Clinton invited Fr Judge to a White House prayer breakfast after hearing about the “charismatic Franciscan”. She added: “He lit up the White House as he lit up every place where he saw himself. Father, you gave us so many gifts when you were alive: gifts of laughter and love.”The funeral for Mr Feehan, 71, took place on Saturday morning at a church in Queens He had spent nearly 40 years with the department. His son, William, said: “If ever there was a man more in love with what he did, I’ve not met him. Calm, in control, dignified and they knew they could get through They could do it. They could save the extra person, work a little bit harder, push a little bit further.”In Arlington, Virginia, a memorial service was held for the former federal prosecutor and conservative TV commentator Barbara Olson.