Debra Cole had uncommon physical stamina matched only by her strength of character, friends and colleagues recalled this week in tributes to the 40-year-old South Portland firefighter who died June 11 after suffering a stroke on the job.

“Deb was probably the strongest woman I ever met. I would trust her to drag me out of a burning building, and I weigh 250 pounds,” said South Portland firefighter-paramedic John Beyer, who worked with Cole for three years. “She was a strong woman with a big heart.”

“Compassion was key for Deb,” said South Portland Fire Chief Kevin Guimond, a scheduled speaker at Cole’s funeral Tuesday in Biddeford. “She was very dedicated to fire service, and very good at what she did. Deb had the respect of all her colleagues.”

More than 2,000 people – most of them firefighters from throughout New England – were expected to attend Cole’s funeral at the New Life Church Tuesday, where a procession of fire trucks and an honor guard were to recognize her service.

Cole, the divorced parent of two daughters, ages 16 and 21, was remembered as a dedicated firefighter-paramedic with a dozen years of service under her belt at numerous departments in southern Maine.

Cole served full time for the past seven years at the South Portland Fire-Rescue Department. She also was captain of Goodwin Mills Fire-Rescue Department, where she worked for 12 years. Cole had part-time jobs with the Arundel, Westbrook and Buxton fire-rescue departments.

South Portland Mayor Tom Blake was among the firefighters who kept vigil over Cole’s body since last Thursday when she died. It is tradition among firefighters to stand guard over a fallen colleague who dies while on duty. The round-the-clock watch did not end until after the burial at Pine Grove Cemetery in West Kennebunk.

“Deb entered and thrived in a male-dominated profession,” recalled Blake, who recently retired from the South Portland Fire Department. “It was a credit to her character and strength that she did so well,” he said, noting that Cole was one of only two women firefighters in a department of more than 60 firefighters.

Chief Guimond said Cole’s fellow firefighters are traumatized by her loss and deeply saddened they could not save one of their own.

“It has been a tough week for the fire department,” Guimond said. “These guys are professionals and they have to keep working. It’s not like we can close shop” to allow time for mourning.

On June 10, Cole collapsed while working overnight at the Western Avenue firehouse. Cole, who was considered to be in good physical shape, had not complained of feeling ill and had planned to meet a friend for breakfast.

There had been one fire call earlier in Cole’s 14-hour shift, but she was not on the engine dispatched to handle it.

At about 6:30 a.m., fellow firefighters heard her fall in the station and rushed to her aid. The crew transported Cole to Maine Medical Center, where she underwent surgery for a clot in her carotid artery. Cole was pronounced dead at about 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Firefighter-paramedic Bill Collins, who works at the Western Avenue station, said Cole’s professionalism, compassion and humor won her friends and respect.

“Deb was one of the most fun-loving people I know,” Collins said. He first met Cole more than a decade ago when the two worked on the Westbrook ambulance crew.

“She was a little bit mischievous and had a great sense of humor,” he said. “She could make a grown man blush.”

Collins recalled attending a firefighters’ training workshop in New Mexico with Cole in 2006. Cole was struck by a car while in New Mexico. Although Cole was not seriously injured, she was “banged up and bruised pretty badly,” Collins recalled.

Cole still made it to the workshop, albeit on crutches. She jokingly told other firefighters she was sure that Collins had pushed her in front of the vehicle.

Collins also remembered Cole for her love for her horses. “She absolutely loved her two horses,” he said.

Friends said Cole pursued just as passionately her pastime raising and riding horses at her Lyman home.

Kelly Parker Weymouth knew firsthand about Cole’s dedication to horses. Weymouth recalled that Cole rescued her four Arab horses in Hollis, after a vandal cut the wires of their pen in 2001. Cole happened to be driving by on her way to teach a class in fire prevention, when she saw the horses running loose.

She herded the horses off the road and into their barn. “I came home one day to get a message on my answering machine from Deb saying that she was passing by to go teach at the Hollis burn building and she put the horses back in for me,” Weymouth recalled.

“I called her immediately to thank her. Her act of kindness meant so much to me. I’ll never forget it,” she said.

“Most heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things,” said Judy Weymouth, Kelly’s mother-in-law, who knew Cole for 15 years. Cole was part of the Buxton crew who responded to Judy’s home a few summers ago, when she suffered from heat exhaustion.

“Deb was a hard worker, well-respected and loved by her co-workers. She certainly loved her animals,” said Weymouth. “But she seemed to have found her calling as a firefighter. That was her niche in life.”

Debra Cole is remembered as kind, fun-loving and mischievous. “She could make a grown man blush,” said Firefighter-paramedic Bill Collins.