In a solemn ceremony featuring police and firefighter rituals, the Washington, Pa., area and hundreds of police officers and firefighters from throughout the Tri-State region turned out today to honor a South Strabane police officer who died in a traffic accident Tuesday.

About 500 police officers and firefighters from as far as Aberdeen, Md., attended the 9:30 a.m. funeral for Nathaniel M. Burnfield, 27, of Canton Township. The service was held at the Immaculate Conception Church in Washington.

Following the two-hour service that included the Pittsburgh Police Pipe and Drum Corps playing outside the church, a funeral procession of 145 police cars and vans, 27 fire company vehicles and 30 police motorcycles wended its way to the Washington Cemetery in North Franklin Township. There officers stood at attention while seven officers shot three rounds of rifle fire and the playing of Taps.

Washington Police Chief James R. Blyth said, "It's a very heavy loss for the whole community. [Officer Burnfield] was a good kid, a fine officer and a fine fireman. It was a bad day for us all."

Officer Burnfield and two other officers were returning from training Tuesday afternoon when they stopped their police vehicle on Interstate 70 near the Bentleyville exit in Washington County to remove a tire from the roadway. After Mr. Burnfield removed the tire, he was struck and killed by a dump truck filled with stone that could not stop once it came upon halted traffic in both lanes of the highway.

After striking Mr. Burnfield, the truck slid into a UPS truck that had pulled to the berm after hitting the tire. The driver of the dump truck, Ronald Kennedy, 44, of Connellsville, also died in the accident.