David J. Phillip / AP

Houston Fire Department Chief Terry Garrison, right, presents a flag to the parents of fallen firefighter Anne Sullivan, Mary, left, and Jack Sullivan, during a memorial service for fallen Houston firefighters Wednesday in Houston.

Thousands of first-responders gathered in Houston on Wednesday for an emotional tribute to four firefighters killed in a deadly blaze last week.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Houston Mayor Annise Parker and 15,000 mourners assembled in Reliant Stadium to praise the heroism of victims Robert Bebee, Matthew Renaud, Anne Sullivan and Robert Garner, who died Friday -- the deadliest day in the Houston First Department's 118-year history. Thirteen other firefighters were injured.

Victims' families entered the memorial as firefighters stood and saluted them. Pictures of the fallen men and women were displayed on screens throughout the stadium, which is the home to the NFL's Houston Texans.

"When the Mayday sounded last Friday here in Houston, I truly believe our members left this earthly place and immediately stood at attention on the row call in Heaven," said Houston Fire Chief Terry Garrison.

After his remarks, Garrison knelt in front of each of the families and presented them with a flag.

Along with the thousands of first-responders in attendance, thousands more around Texas and the country watched the service remotely. Firefighters from the Dallas Fire Department and across the state helped back-fill in Houston as colleagues of the four attended the service, The Houston Chronicle reported.

"These are hard days. It is a painful day. But it's also a necessary day. It is our duty to honor these four individuals represented here. Four people who sacrificed everything in the service of their community," said Perry.

Following the Texas governor, representatives from each of the families delivered moving tributes to their loved ones.

Nicole Garner, sister to Robert Garner, said just weeks before he died that her brother told her that being a firefighter was what he needed to do with his life. "My brother died fulfilling his dream," she said.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fatal blaze at a motel in Houston. When first-responders attempted to rescue motel guests, the building collapsed on them and they became trapped, fire department officials said.

"It is always too soon to say gooodbye to another fallen hero. It breaks our hearts to say goodbye to four," said Parker. "The oath that they and all firefighters swear isn't to come when it's convenient, isn't to come when it's safe; it is to come and serve."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle via AP

A firefighter is wheeled to an ambulance after fighting a fire at the Southwest Inn on Friday, in Houston.

State and federal authorities are investigating the cause of a massive five-alarm blaze at a Houston motel Friday afternoon that killed four firefighters and injured 14 more, marking the single deadliest day in the history of the Houston Fire Department, according to officials.

The fire is believed to have sparked at a restaurant adjacent to the Southwest Inn just after 12:07 p.m. Friday afternoon before swelling into a monstrous inferno, engulfing part of the motel in flames and thick plumes of smoke, according to Houston Fire Department spokesman Capt. Ruy Lozano.

First-responders arrived at the scene at 12:11 p.m. to rescue motel guests. But at some point during the blaze’s ferocious tear through the motel, one of the building’s structural components collapsed and the firefighters became trapped beneath the wreckage, according to Houston Fire Chief Terry Garrison.

“They were risking their lives to save our community,” Garrison said at a Friday press conference.

Although authorities have yet to determine the cause of the lethal blaze, Lozano said that the cause of the death for the four late first-responders was the structural collapse.

The victims have been identified as Capt. EMT Matthew Renaud, 35, of Station 51; engineer-operator EMT Robert Bebee, 41, of Station 51; firefighter EMT Robert Garner, 29, of Station 68; and firefighter Anne Sullivan, 24, of Station 68, who graduated from the Houston Fire Department Academy in April, the department said in a news release.

“This was the worst day in the history of the Houston Fire Department with the most lives lost,” said Mayor Annise Parker at a Friday press conference.

A 1929 incident in which three firefighters died after their Engine was broadsided by a train previously marked the deadliest day in the department’s 118-year history, according to a department press release.

One of the 14 injured firefighters was in critical condition Saturday, with three others in stable condition and a fourth awaiting surgery. All others have been released from a local hospital, Lozano said.

The Bhojan Restaurant, an Indian café neighboring the motel, reportedly has a history of citations by city inspectors, including one in March for allegedly failing to clean grease traps on restaurant grounds, according to The Houston Chronicle. However, authorities have not determined if Friday’s deadly inferno was initially triggered by a grease fire.

The first five months of 2013 have been particularly lethal for Texas firefighters, with 13 on-duty fatalities reported, including at least five deaths stemming from the horrific fertilizer plant explosion in the city of West on April 17.

Officials announced last month that ammonium nitrate caused that deadly accident, which left at least 15 people dead and more than 160 injured.

NBC News' Becky Bratu contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Fri May 31, 2013 6:57 PM EDT

The body of a woman recovered Tuesday from a water tank on the roof of a downtown Los Angeles hotel is that of 21-year-old Elisa Lam, a Canadian tourist who stayed at the hotel before she disappeared several weeks ago, police officials said late Tuesday.

At about 10:15 a.m., police were called to the Cecil Hotel. The Los Angeles Fire Department also responded. The body was removed at about 4:30 p.m. after an urban search and rescue team worked to free the remains while trying to maintain evidence, authorities on scene said.

Hotel guests had reported that the water pressure in the building was low, prompting a maintenance worker to visit tanks on the roof, where the body was found, according to Los Angeles Police Department Officer Sara Fayden.

For more, visit NBCLosAngeles.com

Officials were gathered on the hotel's roof at midday, and multiple emergency vehicles were parked in front of the building, including a sedan from the county coroner's officer.

LAPD homicide detectives had been investigating the disappearance of Lam, a Vancouver, B.C., resident who had stayed at the hotel during a visit to Southern California last month.

Surveillance video from the hotel had shown Lam in the hotel's elevator on Feb. 1. She seemed to push multiple buttons in the elevator, then stepped in and out and appeared to hide in a corner in what authorities described as "abnormal" behavior.

Watch: Surveillance Video

The surveillance video is the last known image of Lam, whose parents said she had called them every day until she disappeared, according to police.

Lam had stayed at the Cecil Hotel during a visit to LA that began Jan. 26, but when it came time for her to check out, she could not be found. She was last seen Jan. 31.

LAPD via Reuters

Elisa Lam of Vancouver, British Columbia, is seen in this undated handout photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department.

The water tank was about three-quarters full when the body was found, according the Sgt. Rudy Lopez of the LAPD. He said the tank's metal latch could be easily opened but added that access to the hotel's roof is secured with an alarm and lock.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said the agency was investigating the four 4-foot-by-8-foot water tanks to determine whether the hotel's water supply had been contaminated.

Fire Capt. Jaime Moore said a water sample had shown "no biohazard concerns" and that the hotel's water tanks were not connected.

Longtime hotel resident Bernard Diaz reported flooding on the fourth floor at about the time Lam disappeared, saying he heard a thump so loud one night he "fell out of bed."

The building, located near Skid Row, is described on its website as a "beautiful vintage European-style hotel built in the 1920s."

The single-room-occupancy hotel has an unusual history. "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, who was found guilty of 14 slayings in the 1980s, lived on the 14th floor for several months in 1985. And international serial killer Jack Unterweger is suspected of murdering three prostitutes during the time he lived there in 1991. He killed himself in jail in 1994.

In 1962, a female occupant jumped out of one the hotel's windows, killing herself and a pedestrian on whom she landed.

Police say a member of the Brooklyn Nets was one of three men taken into custody for questioning after an alleged sexual assault at a Philadelphia hotel.

Police tell NBC10 that a 21-year-old woman was taken from the Four Seasons Hotel on 18th and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to a local hospital just before 4 a.m. The woman told police she was sexually assaulted by someone inside the hotel, according to investigators.

Police say Andray Blatche, a 26-year-old power forward/center on the Brooklyn Nets, was in the hotel suite at the time of the alleged incident but was not in the bedroom where it may have occurred. The Nets are scheduled to play the 76ers tonight at 7 p.m.

More coverage from NBC10.com

Blatche, a 41-year-old man, and a 25-year-old man were all taken into custody for questioning, according to investigators. 

NBC10 spoke to Blatche about the incident. Blatche claimed he didn't know what we were talking about. He also tweeted the following:

I'm ok and I didn't do anything. Just was in the area when it happened.

 The Brooklyn Nets released the following statement in regards to the incident:

We are aware of the ongoing police investigation regarding a member of the Brooklyn Nets.  We will have no further comment until the investigation has concluded. All of our players are available for tonight's game.

No one has been charged in the incident. Police continue to investigate.

An alleged fight between two female blackjack dealers at the Bellagio hotel-casino in Las Vegas sent one of the women to the hospital and the other to jail.

NBC Las Vegas affiliate KSNV reported that the Friday night incident landed 50-year-old Brenda Stokes behind bars after an unnamed victim was left with deep cuts to her face.

The reported altercation took place in one of the high-profile luxury casino's pits, a spokeswoman for the Bellagio told the station.

It was the second violent incident inside a Las Vegas Strip casino in recent days. Last week, an Illinois man shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and then himself in the lobby of the Excalibur resort. The woman was an employee of the resort.

Read more at NBCLosAngeles.com

Stokes was charged with burglary, two counts of battery with a deadly weapon and mayhem, according to Clark County online inmate records. She was due in court Dec. 26.

Stokes allegedly had an "edged blade," a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The victim's condition was unknown, and police could not confirm whether the two dealers were working at the time.