By . Lydia Warren . Last updated at 5:06 AM on 6th January 2012 . United by grief, estranged husband and wife Matthew and Madonna Badger embraced each other as their three young daughters' caskets were carried into a Manhattan church this morning. Their faces creased with despair, the former couple held onto each other tightly as their new partners rested comforting hands on their shoulders ahead of the funeral service. Mrs Badger's boyfriend Michael Borcina, who escaped the Stamford, Connecticut blaze that claimed the lives of the three young girls in the early hours of Christmas Day, held onto the grieving mother. Scroll down for videos . Grief: Matthew and Madonna Badger embrace as the casket of one of their daughters arrives for the funeral services. Madonna is . comforted by Michael Borcina, who survived the fire that killed her children and parents . Farewell: Pallbearers - 18 firefighters who had battled the blaze - carry the coffins to St. Thomas' Church . And standing behind her boyfriend, Abby Ballin rested a gentle hand on Mr Badger's shoulder. Huddled together, the group was joined by nearly 700 people wishing to pay their respects to the young . sisters who perished with their grandparents on Christmas morning. The victims were killed by flames that ravaged the waterfront mansion after Mr Borcina took still-lit embers from the fireplace and took them outside. They later sparked the deadly 5 a.m. inferno. The 'Service in Thanksgiving for the . Lives of Lilian, Sarah and Grace Badger', held at St. Thomas Church in New York City, was . attended by friends, relatives and recognisable faces from their . mother's successful fashion career. 'My little girls are not gone from us . entirely because my little girls are in my heart. Right here. And this . is where they live,' Mrs Badger, 47, said during the service. She described each of her daughters in a eulogy to her 'little girl tribe', the New York Daily News reported. In loving memory: The Badgers lead the crowd of mourners as they exit the service, left, and right their three daughters, Lilian, Sarah and Grace laughed delightedly in a photo that adorned the program for the service . Support: Matthew Badger, left, and Madonna Badger, the parents of three children that were killed in a fire, react as one of the caskets is carried into a church during the funeral . Tragic: Three hearses carry the caskets of the sisters who perished in the 5 a.m. blaze on Christmas Day . Devastated: The Badgers comfort each other as the caskets arrive. Mr Badger was in New York during the fire . She recalled Lily's brilliant smile, Sarah's love and Grace's fearlessness and adoration for her sisters. Badger said Lily was 'my angel and my life and she was my firstborn.' 'Lily was naturally shy, but when she . let her smile glow it glowed completely,' Badger said. 'She had better . dance moves than Michael Jackson.' Lily’s 7-year-old twin sisters, Grace and Sarah, both looked up to their big sister, she said. Sarah was 'my little whippersnapper, loved and lovable and full of love.' Grace was 'fearless' but 'asked a thousand times if she was going to die before me,' Badger said. 'I said, "No. That's never going to happen. But it did, and I wonder why. Why my children? Why my parents?' Badger told mourners, 'In all the incomprehensible loss and chaos, all I can hang onto is that love is everything.' Before the service, loved ones embraced each other on the church steps, with some wearing dark glasses to hide their tears. They watched as the small wooden coffins were carried into the church by 18 of the Stamford firefighters who responded to the fire. Former . colleagues of Mrs Badger, who worked as an art director for Calvin Klein, . showed their support for the grieving family. Designers Vera Wang and . Calvin Klein himself attended the service. Respects: The girls' coffins are carried in front of the church on Fifth Avenue, which was closed for the event . Sadness: The girls died after fireplace embers were put outside - because they did not want Santa to be burned . Time of need: Mr and Mrs Badger are comforted by the clergy of the church before the funeral service . The Gothic-style church, filled with lilies and faux evergreen boughs from Christmas, was brimming with well-wishers well before the service began. The . program featured a photograph of nine-year-old Lily and . her seven-year-old twin sisters, Sarah and Grace, laughing together, . wearing summer dresses. Readings at the service included Bible . passages: 'Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them . not,' and 'For every time there is a season'. Songs were performed to honour the three sisters, including Amazing Grace and This . Little Light of Mine. Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright sang an a cappella version of 'Over the Rainbow' during the service, which also featured hymns performed by St. Thomas' all-male choir. Loved: Mourners arrive at the service for the girls, who died with their grandparents in Stamford, Connecticut . Fraught: The firefighters carry the coffins from the church. There will be a further, private service for the five victims . Heartbreaking: Sarah Badger's coffin is taken from the church. Her mother recounted the girl's loving nature . Together: The Badgers follow the caskets carrying the bodies of their three daughters . Despair: In her eulogy, Mrs Badger described each of her daughters, before asking: 'Why my children?' 'The family is here today to privately . remember, mourn and honor their beloved Lily, Sarah and Grace as well as . Lormer and Pauline Johnson,' family friend Kate Askew said in a . statement. 'It has been an incredibly, incredibly difficult time.' After attending the service, Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte added: 'The closure you are looking for when you see those little caskets, it just doesn't come.' A private service will be held later . at Woodlawn Cemetery for the girls' grandparents, Lomer and Pauline . Johnson, who also perished in the flames. Embers in a bag of discarded ashes . started the blaze on Christmas Day at the $1.7million . property, officials have said. Mr Borcina had taken them out of a fireplace so the children would not worry about . Santa coming down the chimney. Fire officials said he then placed the ashes in or outside an entryway, near rubbish bins. All victims died of smoke inhalation, . while Lomer Johnson also suffered a blunt head and neck trauma, which . resulted from a fall as he attempted to save one of his granddaughters. Support: Mrs Badger's former boss Calvin Klein (left) and fellow designer Vera Wang (right) attend the service . Shared sadness: Musician Lou Reed, left, and actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, right, showed their support . Loss: Mrs Badger arrives with Mr Borcina. They were the sole survivors of the blaze that destroyed her home . Mr Borcina told fire officials he had tried to flee with two of the girls, but amid the chaos of the flames, the girls apparently panicked and ran upstairs, according to Stamford fire chief, Antonio J. Conte. One of the girls, found dead just . inside a window, had been placed on a pile of books, apparently so . Johnson could reach in and grab her after he jumped out. But it is . believed he fell through the roof. Mrs Badger and Mr Borcina were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation. Police and fire officials are investigating the blaze. They want to know whether there were smoke alarms at the home, as . well as the status of its renovation and whether the contractor had . permits. Remembered: Matthew Badger poses with his daughters Grace, Sarah and Lily, shortly before their deaths . Victims: Lomer and Pauline Johnson, seen standing, also died in the fire. Mr Johnson died trying to save their grandchildren, from left, . Lily, Grace and Sarah. Another grandchild Morgan (right) was not in the house . House of horror: Authorities are investigating if the home had activated fire alarms and contractor permits . Emotional: Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte (pictured left on the day of the fire) attended the funeral service with Mayor of Stamford Michael Pavia, right. They said it was the worst Christmas the town had ever known . Pain: Firefighter Nick Tamburro pays respects outside the destroyed home in Stamford, Connecticut. Many of the fire fighters dispatched to the scene are undergoing counseling to deal with the horrifying memories . The . Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection has said that neither . Borcina nor his company, Tiberias Construction Inc., was registered to . perform home improvement work in the state. The agency said it did not yet have . enough information about what work may have been done or completed and . would not comment on whether it will investigate. Stamford authorities deemed the house unsafe following the fire and ordered it torn down the day after. Fire Chief Antonio Conte said the fire was Stamford's deadliest since a 1987 blaze that also killed five people. Matthew and Madonna Badger have set up The Other 364 Foundation to collect donations to 'champion compassion' in the girls' memories. See below for videos . video platform . video management . video solutions . video player . Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy .
Madonna and Matthew Badger cling to each other as their daughters' caskets are carried into church .
Nearly 700 mourners attend service in Manhattan, New York .
In a moving eulogy, Mrs Badger pays tribute to her family, crying: 'Why my children? Why my parents?'
By . Lydia Warren . Last updated at 5:06 AM on 6th January 2012 . United by grief, estranged husband and wife Matthew and Madonna Badger embraced each other as their three young daughters' caskets were carried into a Manhattan church this morning. Their faces creased with despair, the former couple held onto each other tightly as their new partners rested comforting hands on their shoulders ahead of the funeral service. Mrs Badger's boyfriend Michael Borcina, who escaped the Stamford, Connecticut blaze that claimed the lives of the three young girls in the early hours of Christmas Day, held onto the grieving mother. Scroll down for videos . Grief: Matthew and Madonna Badger embrace as the casket of one of their daughters arrives for the funeral services. Madonna is . comforted by Michael Borcina, who survived the fire that killed her children and parents . Farewell: Pallbearers - 18 firefighters who had battled the blaze - carry the coffins to St. Thomas' Church . And standing behind her boyfriend, Abby Ballin rested a gentle hand on Mr Badger's shoulder. Huddled together, the group was joined by nearly 700 people wishing to pay their respects to the young . sisters who perished with their grandparents on Christmas morning. The victims were killed by flames that ravaged the waterfront mansion after Mr Borcina took still-lit embers from the fireplace and took them outside. They later sparked the deadly 5 a.m. inferno. The 'Service in Thanksgiving for the . Lives of Lilian, Sarah and Grace Badger', held at St. Thomas Church in New York City, was . attended by friends, relatives and recognisable faces from their . mother's successful fashion career. 'My little girls are not gone from us . entirely because my little girls are in my heart. Right here. And this . is where they live,' Mrs Badger, 47, said during the service. She described each of her daughters in a eulogy to her 'little girl tribe', the New York Daily News reported. In loving memory: The Badgers lead the crowd of mourners as they exit the service, left, and right their three daughters, Lilian, Sarah and Grace laughed delightedly in a photo that adorned the program for the service . Support: Matthew Badger, left, and Madonna Badger, the parents of three children that were killed in a fire, react as one of the caskets is carried into a church during the funeral . Tragic: Three hearses carry the caskets of the sisters who perished in the 5 a.m. blaze on Christmas Day . Devastated: The Badgers comfort each other as the caskets arrive. Mr Badger was in New York during the fire . She recalled Lily's brilliant smile, Sarah's love and Grace's fearlessness and adoration for her sisters. Badger said Lily was 'my angel and my life and she was my firstborn.' 'Lily was naturally shy, but when she . let her smile glow it glowed completely,' Badger said. 'She had better . dance moves than Michael Jackson.' Lily’s 7-year-old twin sisters, Grace and Sarah, both looked up to their big sister, she said. Sarah was 'my little whippersnapper, loved and lovable and full of love.' Grace was 'fearless' but 'asked a thousand times if she was going to die before me,' Badger said. 'I said, "No. That's never going to happen. But it did, and I wonder why. Why my children? Why my parents?' Badger told mourners, 'In all the incomprehensible loss and chaos, all I can hang onto is that love is everything.' Before the service, loved ones embraced each other on the church steps, with some wearing dark glasses to hide their tears. They watched as the small wooden coffins were carried into the church by 18 of the Stamford firefighters who responded to the fire. Former . colleagues of Mrs Badger, who worked as an art director for Calvin Klein, . showed their support for the grieving family. Designers Vera Wang and . Calvin Klein himself attended the service. Respects: The girls' coffins are carried in front of the church on Fifth Avenue, which was closed for the event . Sadness: The girls died after fireplace embers were put outside - because they did not want Santa to be burned . Time of need: Mr and Mrs Badger are comforted by the clergy of the church before the funeral service . The Gothic-style church, filled with lilies and faux evergreen boughs from Christmas, was brimming with well-wishers well before the service began. The . program featured a photograph of nine-year-old Lily and . her seven-year-old twin sisters, Sarah and Grace, laughing together, . wearing summer dresses. Readings at the service included Bible . passages: 'Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them . not,' and 'For every time there is a season'. Songs were performed to honour the three sisters, including Amazing Grace and This . Little Light of Mine. Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright sang an a cappella version of 'Over the Rainbow' during the service, which also featured hymns performed by St. Thomas' all-male choir. Loved: Mourners arrive at the service for the girls, who died with their grandparents in Stamford, Connecticut . Fraught: The firefighters carry the coffins from the church. There will be a further, private service for the five victims . Heartbreaking: Sarah Badger's coffin is taken from the church. Her mother recounted the girl's loving nature . Together: The Badgers follow the caskets carrying the bodies of their three daughters . Despair: In her eulogy, Mrs Badger described each of her daughters, before asking: 'Why my children?' 'The family is here today to privately . remember, mourn and honor their beloved Lily, Sarah and Grace as well as . Lormer and Pauline Johnson,' family friend Kate Askew said in a . statement. 'It has been an incredibly, incredibly difficult time.' After attending the service, Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte added: 'The closure you are looking for when you see those little caskets, it just doesn't come.' A private service will be held later . at Woodlawn Cemetery for the girls' grandparents, Lomer and Pauline . Johnson, who also perished in the flames. Embers in a bag of discarded ashes . started the blaze on Christmas Day at the $1.7million . property, officials have said. Mr Borcina had taken them out of a fireplace so the children would not worry about . Santa coming down the chimney. Fire officials said he then placed the ashes in or outside an entryway, near rubbish bins. All victims died of smoke inhalation, . while Lomer Johnson also suffered a blunt head and neck trauma, which . resulted from a fall as he attempted to save one of his granddaughters. Support: Mrs Badger's former boss Calvin Klein (left) and fellow designer Vera Wang (right) attend the service . Shared sadness: Musician Lou Reed, left, and actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, right, showed their support . Loss: Mrs Badger arrives with Mr Borcina. They were the sole survivors of the blaze that destroyed her home . Mr Borcina told fire officials he had tried to flee with two of the girls, but amid the chaos of the flames, the girls apparently panicked and ran upstairs, according to Stamford fire chief, Antonio J. Conte. One of the girls, found dead just . inside a window, had been placed on a pile of books, apparently so . Johnson could reach in and grab her after he jumped out. But it is . believed he fell through the roof. Mrs Badger and Mr Borcina were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation. Police and fire officials are investigating the blaze. They want to know whether there were smoke alarms at the home, as . well as the status of its renovation and whether the contractor had . permits. Remembered: Matthew Badger poses with his daughters Grace, Sarah and Lily, shortly before their deaths . Victims: Lomer and Pauline Johnson, seen standing, also died in the fire. Mr Johnson died trying to save their grandchildren, from left, . Lily, Grace and Sarah. Another grandchild Morgan (right) was not in the house . House of horror: Authorities are investigating if the home had activated fire alarms and contractor permits . Emotional: Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte (pictured left on the day of the fire) attended the funeral service with Mayor of Stamford Michael Pavia, right. They said it was the worst Christmas the town had ever known . Pain: Firefighter Nick Tamburro pays respects outside the destroyed home in Stamford, Connecticut. Many of the fire fighters dispatched to the scene are undergoing counseling to deal with the horrifying memories . The . Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection has said that neither . Borcina nor his company, Tiberias Construction Inc., was registered to . perform home improvement work in the state. The agency said it did not yet have . enough information about what work may have been done or completed and . would not comment on whether it will investigate. Stamford authorities deemed the house unsafe following the fire and ordered it torn down the day after. Fire Chief Antonio Conte said the fire was Stamford's deadliest since a 1987 blaze that also killed five people. Matthew and Madonna Badger have set up The Other 364 Foundation to collect donations to 'champion compassion' in the girls' memories. See below for videos . video platform . video management . video solutions . video player . Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy .
other as their three young daughters' caskets were carried into a Manhattan church this described each of her daughters in a eulogy to Matthew Badger, left, and Madonna Badger, the caskets arrive. Mr Badger was in New York during and I wonder why. Why my children? Why my parents?' Badger told mourners, 'In all the her eulogy, Mrs Badger described each of her