S.C. warehouse fire kills 9 firefighters

[Dark Knight]

Fire swept through a furniture warehouse, collapsing the building's roof and claiming the lives of nine firefighters in a disaster the mayor described Tuesday as "difficult to fathom or quantify."

"Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting fire in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said at a morning news conference. "To all of their loved ones, our heart goes out to them."

Two employees in the building were rescued from the blaze, which broke out at about 7 p.m. Monday in the Sofa Super Store and warehouse, Riley said.

Overnight, firefighters saluted as the bodies of their colleagues were taken from the warehouse.

"To lose nine is just a tragedy of immense proportions," Riley said. "To lose nine is just unbelievable."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070619/ap_on_re_us/charleston_fire&printer=1

Prayers to the families and the community, and may the firefighters rest in peace.

 

[Shadow205]

God bless these brave firefighters. Prayers to all who knew and loved them.

 

[Peter Hamilton]

This is a shocking tragedy--I've never heard of such a large number of firefighters being killed in one incident--prayers to their families

 

[CuriousAnne]

This happened less than a mile from my house. I was coming home from supper with a friend, and saw the plume of smoke (looked like it was coming from an area near my neighborhood). As I got closer, I could see the flames and the horrible smoke. When I got to my house, I could see the smoke from my yard. I'm just heartbroken...

 

[CuriousAnne]

Turns out the building didn't have a sprinkler system. I found out in this article that 3 houses nearby also burned down. I had no idea about that...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/19/national/main2947210.shtml

Charleston fire and rescue Lt. Chad Watson told CBS' The Early Show the store lacked a sprinkler system and that "it was just a matter of time" before the building collapsed from the heat of the fire.

 

[southcitymom]

Charleston is my hometown and this is a devastating tragedy. My prayers to the families of these men.

 

[Marthatex]

That is a terrible tragedy; so sorry for the families.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

Soooo sad, so very sad.

My SO is a firefighter here in TX - he's on duty today. He said they're all just solemn and quiet today at the station....

As Peter said earlier, it's rare to hear about so many killed at one scene.

:blowkiss: to all those affected.

 

[lightwaveryder]

my heart goes out to the families of the firefighters who died.

my MIND says, who in the hell ordered 9 firefighters into a burning shanty to save a bunch of FURNITURE.

this is a tragedy of huge proportion and should never be repeated.

the fire marshall should be punished, the fire chief should be punished and firefighters all over the world should re-evaluate the human cost of sending firefighters INSIDE a building where no human lives are to be saved.
let it burn, keep it from spreading. this was a bad bad decision.




~lightwaveryder~

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

my MIND says, who in the hell ordered 9 firefighters into a burning shanty to save a bunch of FURNITURE.

this is a tragedy of huge proportion and should never be repeated.

You've got a good point there. Wonder what they knew at the time (i.e., whether there was possibly employees in there or what). Such a shame. My heart just hurts, ya know?

 

[opme]

"We will never forget, just like 9/11, we will never forget these nine firefighters who lost their lives last night, doing what they loved to do — fight fire," Thomas said.
The firefighters who died had worked for the department anywhere from 18 months to 30 years. Those killed were: Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson, 48; Capt. Mike Benke, 49; Capt. Louis Mulkey, 34; Engineer Mark Kelsey, 40; Engineer Bradford "Brad" Baity, 37; Assistant Engineer Michael French, 27; James "Earl" Drayton, 56; Brandon Thompson, 27; and Melven Champaign, 46.

My prayers and deepest sympathies to their families and friends on their incredible loss. The property value involved did not justify the loss that these families and friends are now suffering.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284232,00.html

 

[CuriousAnne]

my heart goes out to the families of the firefighters who died.

my MIND says, who in the hell ordered 9 firefighters into a burning shanty to save a bunch of FURNITURE.

this is a tragedy of huge proportion and should never be repeated.

the fire marshall should be punished, the fire chief should be punished and firefighters all over the world should re-evaluate the human cost of sending firefighters INSIDE a building where no human lives are to be saved.
let it burn, keep it from spreading. this was a bad bad decision.

~lightwaveryder~

I believe they were rescuing two employees who were trapped inside. The building collapsed before they could get out.

The firefighters entered the building to rescue an employee, Riley said. They broke through the rear of the warehouse to let him escape. The roof fell in before the firefighters could get out, Riley said. A second worker had run out of the building earlier, he said.

http://www.charlotte.com/breaking_news/story/165782.html

 

[dingo]

So very sad and tragic ......thought and prayers to the fireies families and friends.

 

[southcitymom]

I went to school with kids of the family who owned the store/warehouse that burned down.

The firefighters were trying to get employees out. I don't know how the collapsing roof could have been anticipated. There's no blame here that I can see.

I know the fire will be under heavy investigation in the coming weeks.

 

[CuriousAnne]

I rode by tonight on my way home from work. It's absolutely devastated. Police are everywhere, and the Red Cross has set up a station there too.

 

[philamena]

Terrible tragedy. It's devastating for a close knit community to loose one firefighter.........9 firefighters loosing their lives is unfathomable. God bless this community.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

I went to school with kids of the family who owned the store/warehouse that burned down.

The firefighters were trying to get employees out. I don't know how the collapsing roof could have been anticipated. There's no blame here that I can see.

I know the fire will be under heavy investigation in the coming weeks.

Well then, that makes sense. Well, you know what I mean - there were people inside.

It's just so hard for me to fathom 9!

 

[southcitymom]

Well then, that makes sense. Well, you know what I mean - there were people inside.

It's just so hard for me to fathom 9!

It is hard to wrap my mind around it too. Charleston is not a huge community - it's just a tremendous loss on so many levels.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

It is hard to wrap my mind around it too. Charleston is not a huge community - it's just a tremendous loss on so many levels.

And except in cases of negligence, I feel sorry for the property owners (and family, like you mentioned)...that results in such tragedy. They can become victims to some extent, as well, as they'll never forget the tragedy. I've dealt with surviving drivers who have been involved in fatal accidents, and they feel guilt and loss and have emotional problems afterwards, even when it wasn't their fault.

Prayers and strength to the family, friends and coworkers of the 9 firefighters. Well, really it reaches out to the whole community. What a loss.

 

[NanaMcZoo]

Charleston is my hometown also. My brother in law of 30 years is a firefighter and paramedic there. It's his side job, he does it because he cares about humanity. My heart breaks for the friends and families of these wonderful, brave men. Heroes, all.