Firefighters have formed a guard of honour to farewell volunteer Andrew O'Dwyer who's been remembered as a proud NSW Rural Fire Service member whose greatest achievement was his young daughter.
Mr O'Dwyer, 36, died in December when his fire truck rolled while battling the large Green Wattle Creek blaze near the town of Buxton.
A requiem mass was held on Tuesday for the fallen firefighter at Our Lady of Victories in Horsley Park, the Sydney suburb where his RFS brigade is based.
Hundreds of family, friends and RFS members filled the church as tributes flowed for the young father.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, state Emergency Services Minister David Elliott and federal Labor MP Chris Bowen were among the mourners.
RFS volunteers and representatives from other emergency service agencies formed a guard of honour as Mr O'Dwyer's casket was carried into the church with some saluting and others putting their hand on their heart.
NSW RFS members pay their respects at the funeral for volunteer Andrew O'Dwyer at Our Lady of Victories Catholic Church in Horsley Park, Sydney. Source: AAP
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons choked up as he addressed Mr O'Dwyer's young daughter Charlotte.
"Charlotte should know her father was a selfless and special man, who only left because he was a hero," the commissioner told the congregation.
Wearing a white dress with her hair in pigtails, the toddler at one stage touched her father's casket before she wandered up to the pulpit during the service.
Charlotte O'Dwyer, the young daughter of Rural Fire Service volunteer Andrew O'Dwyer stands in front of her fathers casket wearing his helmet. Source: AAP
Errol O'Dwyer said farewelling his son was the hardest thing he ever had to do.
Mr O'Dwyer described his son as a free spirit who lived in the present and whose greatest achievement was his daughter.
Volunteer Geoffrey Keaton, 32, was killed in the same crash and was remembered at a separate service last week.
NSW RFS firefighter Andrew O'Dwyer with his young daughter. Source: RFS FACEBOOK
