Service honors fallen Philadelphia firefighter Lt. Joyce Craig

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The city of Philadelphia honored the life of fallen firefighter Lt. Joyce Craig on Monday with a non-denominational memorial service inside City Hall.

It marks the end of a 30-day mourning period following Craig's death on December 9th.

She was killed while helping to fight a fire inside a West Oak Lane home.

The ceremony feature Mayor Michael Nutter presenting the city flag to Craig's family.

She leaves behind a teenage son and a 3-year-old daughter. She was the first female firefighter to be killed in the line of duty.

Her brother, Michael, spoke for the grieving family.

"Everybody who knows what Joyce did, or who knew Joyce knows she smiled a lot. She loved to laugh, she loved to enjoy life, she loved to see other people enjoy life," he said.

Lt. Diane Mercer, one of the pioneering female firefighters and now a 30-year veteran, talked about Craig's life-long ambition to be among their ranks.

"Since she was five years old she wanted to be a firefighter. She used to see them in her neighborhood and knew that's what she wanted to do," Mercer said.

There are still many unanswered questions about the fire. More than one month later, the fire department says "it is still under investigation."

Initial reports were that Craig was trapped in the basement, but later there were reports she was found on the first floor.

Over the weekend, federal experts examined the air cylinder Craig was using at the time of her death, to make sure there were no breaks in the system and it was acting properly.

There has been no word on what, if anything, was found.