9/11 hero Luiz Alvarez remembered at wake on Long Island

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. (FOX 5 NY) - Hundreds of mourners paid their respects to September 11 hero Luis Alvarez at a wake on Tuesday.

The former NYPD Bomb Squad detective died Saturday from colorectal cancer related to exposure to toxins at ground zero. He was 53.

Two fire trucks hoisted a huge American flag outside a funeral home in Oceanside, Long Island, where the wake was held.

Alvarez spent three months searching the rubble at ground zero after 9/11. He long fought for his fellow first responders who were also sickened there.

In June, despite the advanced nature of his cancer, he accompanied comedian Jon Stewart to Capitol Hill to call on Congress to continue funding the 9/11 Victims' Compensation Fund. A week later, he was moved into hospice care.

Alvarez's funeral will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. the Immaculate Conception Church in Astoria, Queens.