Young daughter of firefighter killed in Australia wore his helmet and service medal at his funeral

Charlotte O'Dwyer, the young daughter of Rural Fire Service volunteer Andrew O'Dwyer, stands in front of her father's casket wearing his helmet.

(CNN)A 36-year-old firefighter killed battling Australia's blazes was honored by hundreds of mourners, a traditional dance and a medal of honor for his young daughter.

Andrew O'Dwyer, a 16-year veteran of the New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service, was battling the bush fires in Sydney on December 19 when a tree fell on his firetruck, killing him and Deputy Captain Geoffrey Keaton, 32. Both men were volunteers of Sydney's Horsley Park Rural Fire Brigade.

At his funeral, O'Dwyer's young daughter, Charlotte, toddled around his coffin wearing his fire helmet. Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons pinned her father's service medal to her dress.

Charlotte O'Dwyer receives her fathers service medal from RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.

"Baby Charlotte, you need to know --- your dad was a special man, a selfless man, and only left because he is a hero," an emotional Fitzsimmons told the child, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Outside the church, a firetruck bearing O'Dwyer's name and hundreds of firefighters lined the church parking lot.

A group of men greeted the hearse carrying O'Dwyer's coffin by performing a haka, a traditional dance of the Maori people in New Zealand.

The men stomped, chanted and slapped their legs as officials, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, looked on in salute.