Hundreds and hundreds of people showed up today to pay their respects to Josh Ferguson, including several fire departments from across the state. They said Josh Ferguson was a rock in the Elliottville Volunteer Fire Department.

"If there was ever a true volunteer, he was one of them. If there were 300 fire calls in a year, he'd be at 290 of them," said Ronnie Day, executive director of the Kentucky Fire Commission.

But today, they laid their fallen brother to rest. Josh, they say, was someone who touched lots of people in this community.

"He had touched so many lives in the small community of Elliottville. The fire chief told me last night that probably, soon, that this kid could have been fire chief up there," said Day.

Directors estimate more than 400 people came to his funeral today. After the memorial service, firefighters from as far away as Glasgow escorted Josh to his final resting place. Throughout the city, people pulled off the road to let him pass in a fire engine one last time.

"Our hats are off to the community for their support and we applaud them and I think as the day progresses you'll see that here in Rowan County," said Day.

They say Josh will leave a lasting legacy at the department.

"There's a lot of young guys that were involved with him on a daily basis at Elliottville. He was their mentor. They looked up to him and wanted to follow in his footsteps because they saw this gentleman doing the right thing and helping a lot of people," said Day.

Josh was set to marry his fiancee in just under a month. Firefighters said he was very excited when he dropped off their invitations.