LEMOORE - It was standing room only Friday at St. Peter's Catholic Church as the teenage couple and three children who died in last week's fire at a Lemoore apartment complex were laid to rest.

Approximately 800 people attended the full Roman Catholic Mass, offered in celebration of the lives of Derik Faubion and his fiancee, Michell Mattison, both 19, their 2-month-old daughter, Hayden Allison Faubion, and Mattison's step-siblings, Lexus May Bisnar, 4, and Ariel Nel Bisnar, 2.

Several mourners wore dark pink polka-dotted ribbons fastened to their lapels, while others sported boutonnieres made of green carnations, framed by deep green polka-dotted ribbons.

Friends said the pink was Mattison's favorite color, while Faubion favored green.

"Look at all these people," said Dustin Cooper, a high school friend of Mattison and Faubion's. "I don't know what else to say."

Friday's service came nearly a week after the fire that claimed the five lives.

Around 1:30 a.m. July 28, a blaze broke out in the Northgate Apartments on Hazelwood Drive in Lemoore.

The flames destroyed nine units, displaced six families, and caused more than $1 million in damages.

Fire officials said the fire was so involved by the time firefighters arrived on scene, it was unsafe to enter the building, and they never even attempted to rescue the five who died.

The fire started on the porch of the unit just below Mattison and Faubion's, investigators said.

Built in 1983, the building had a wood shake roof, and, with only one sprinkler for the entire 23-unit complex, flames quickly engulfed it.

The building was up to code when it was built, and owners were not required to update it to current standards.

On Friday, four urns stood on an alter filled with pink gladiolas and other brightly colored flowers. Just inside the church foyer were two cardboard display boards, covered with collages of pictures from the young victims' lives.

Written on the bottom of one display board, devoted to Faubion and Mattison, were the words, "more than a son."

Following the service, the attendees -- which included city leaders and Faubion's co-workers at Best Buy Market -- gathered in front of the church.

A group of the young couple's friends released yellow balloons, one of which became stuck in a nearby tree during its rise into the atmosphere.

"It hard, it was horrible," said Cooper, recalling the moment he received of the news of his friends' deaths.

Cooper's sister, Allison said Mattison's personality was infectious.

"She was such a goofball. She really was," she said. "Every day she would put a smile on everyone's face."

Mattison and Faubion -- who began dating their first year in high school -- were close, the Cooper's said.

"They might as well already have been married," said Dustin Cooper.

Mattison family friend Helen Watley said she attended the service in commiseration.

"I just lost a child myself ... I know the feeling," she said.

Watley said her son died the first week in July.

Lemoore's tight-knit Filipino community has rallied around both families, said Watley.

Mattison is half Filipino. Faubion is White.

"The Filipino community here are close," she said. "They have unity ... everybody is like brother and sister. They all join together."

However, Watley said that the deaths came as a shock, not just to the Filipino community, but the community as a whole.

Dustin Cooper said he will remember Mattison and Faubion's loyal natures most of all.

"I have some good friends, but Derik and Michell were always there," he said.

If you would like to donate to the families affected by the fires, can donate to the Lemoore Fire Relief account at The Stockmen's Bank.

Donations of items such as canned food and furniture can be dropped off at The Salvation Army in Hanford at 380 E. Ivy St.

The reporter can be reached at 582-0471, ext. 3062

(August 4, 2007)