Thousands gathered beneath a bright blue sky Friday morning at Cathedral Mary Our Queen to say goodbye to Rodney Pitts III, who was killed fighting a fire in Northwest Baltimore last week.
People crushed together, shoulder to shoulder, outside the church, including hundreds of first responders dressed in full uniform, to see Pitts’ procession. The extended Pitts’ family, many of them wearing red, held each other as they watched members of the Engine Company 29, the company Pitts’ served with, bear his casket up the stairs to the cathedral. Some cried. Others looked on with a proud salute. Massed pipes and drums from all over Maryland, DC and even Philadelphia came for the final salute.
Mourners came from all over Baltimore and included Lt. Governor Aruna Miller, Mayor Brandon Scott, Fire Chief James Wallace and Police Commissioner Richard Worley.
During the Mass, Mayor Scott mourned with the family and members of the Baltimore Fire Department.
“But in this moment let us all be reminded that Rodney leaves behind a legacy that is etched in courage and service that we won't forget,” said Scott, who recounted how Pitts’ mother told him that Rodney always wanted to be a firefighter. Scott championed Pitts as an example of Black Excellence when so much negativity dominates the narrative around the city’s Black men.
“A young Black Baltimore man devoted to his kids. A young Black Baltimore man dedicated to his family. A young Black Baltimore man who gave his life for his city.”
Pitts was 31 years-old. Matthew Coster, president of Baltimore Local IAFF 734 told The Baltimore Banner that it was Pitts’ first time “on the engine.”
“You can do everything right in this job, and still get killed or injured doing what you love to do,” he said.
The funeral Mass, ultimately followed by his interment at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens concluded days worth of viewings where visitors from near and far came to pay their respects.
Mike Pitts, a cousin of Rodney, and a group of relatives bore solemn faces and shirts emblazoned with Rodney Pitts III’s image as they came to a viewing at the Duda-Ruck Funeral Homes on Wednesday. On the shirt, Pitts is in his full uniform, silhouetted against a black shirt with his name in scrawling purple script.
“He’s a very good young man,” said Mike Pitts, trying to hold in tears. “He wanted to see the family happy and other people happy. He wasn’t selfish. You can see he sacrificed his life so other people could live.”
Pitts appreciated the outpouring of support from the community and beyond. People, including scores of first responders, came as far as Philadelphia to attend the viewing.
Leona Tucker is a fire department employee and longtime family-friend of the Pitts’ who went to Dunbar High School with his grandfather.
“His dream was always to be a firefighter. That was his dream and it was a dream come true,” said Tucker outside of Pitts’ viewing.
Pitts had around one-year of service, with a good portion of that spent training at the academy. Chief James Wallace remembered personally pinning on Pitts’ badge in August.
On Wednesday morning, news broke that Lt. Dillon Rinaldo died from his injuries while in treatment at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Rinaldo had previously been thought to be in stable condition but somewhere between Friday and Wednesday his health deteriorated.
Standing outside of the funeral home, Tucker described the loss of another firefighter as “doubly-sad.”
Pitts was killed last Thursday when a fire broke out at a block of rowhomes last Thursday at the 5200 Block of Linden Avenue. The fire ultimately consumed four of the homes, of which city records show two were vacant, one was a rental, and the other was occupied by its owner. Pitts was inside of the occupied house, which was between two vacants, when the blaze overwhelmed the fire fighters in the structure. A few hours later, Pitts succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at University of Maryland.
As of the time of Pitts’ funeral, officials have still not released the cause of the fire, which is under investigation with the help of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, a division from the Maryland State Police, and the city’s fire department.
The last time Baltimore City lost firefighters in the line of duty was in the 2022 fire on South which ultimately led to the deaths of three firefighters.
Funeral arrangements for Lt. Rinaldo have not yet been announced.
