South Carolina warehouse fire kills 9 firefighters

[wicket]

:cry: :cry: :cry:

LINK

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. Firefighters punched a hole through a wall of the warehouse to reach them.

Firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers saluted as the bodies were carried from the warehouse during the night.

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

The cause of the fire was under investigation, but Riley said arson was not suspected. He said the blaze apparently started in a storage area. He was unsure whether there were sprinklers in the building.

Riley said the county coroner would announce the names of the dead.

Witnesses said the store's roof collapsed, throwing debris over about two-dozen rescue workers. Onlookers were hit with flying ash.

[opihimoimoi]

1. This Ret'd Fire Capt is in tears....I SALUTE THEM and Grieve for their families....:o(

[wicket]

9. Amen

:patriot:

:cry:

[Lex]

2. Terrible.

Nine. Unbelievable.

[dogday]

3. My deepest sympathies to their families and friends

They are Heros....

[Marrah_G]

4. What a tragedy

I still have a brick from the warehouse fire that killed 7 firemen in Worcester MA years ago.

[wicket]

10. I remember that fire very cleary

It really shook the community to the core.

[madrchsod]

5. brave men who do what few can

may their family find peace

[Clark2008]

6. Dear Lord - how awful!

My sympathies to these fire-fighters' families.

[Breeze54]

7. This is awful and sad news...

Such brave people!! Terrible loss for that community and their families. :(

[pansypoo53219]

8. i was always leary

about those warehouse stores that are built in a month. i hope this leads to more stringent building codes.

and i gotta say, how could a reagular fire bring down the roof? obviously there must have been a bomb.
(9/11 relates sarcasm as i don't know how to do the dripping thingy)

[jmowreader]

14. There's nothing "regular" about an upholstery fire

Upholstery is padded with polyurethane foam, which Jeff Derdarian nicknamed "solid gasoline" for the intensity of its flames.

You remember Jeff. He's the former TV news reporter and nightclub owner who made a Blockbuster Investigative Report on the dangers of PUR foam filling for furniture right before he soundproofed his bar with the same material...the bar in question was called The Station. You've read about it.

[Emit]

15. I heard on the radio that it was an old Piggly Wiggly building

and that it did not have sprinklers because it was built prior to that requirement.

[opihimoimoi]

11. Fire Dept's often have "Critiques" after large fires...to see what they did was right and vice versa

Its easy to say it was "bad luck"....that was a standard way out in the old days...

But as they will analyze this horrific tragedy....more carefully....fingers will point....right or wrong...fingers will point....

Who was in charge of the fire ground? What rank was involved?

Why were the FFs in a building that had a roof capable of collapse?...It appears the structure was steel....and all FFs know steel collapses much faster than wood....

Was Cronyism involved...? meaning, was the Fire Commander a Peter? Promoted before his Time?

I know...these questions hurt....but they and other questions must be examined to find the root cause of so many deaths ....so as to prevent other sim tragedies.....

This has happened before and sadly, prolly will happen again....

The Critique is meant to minimize/eliminate sim tragedies in the future...

For those brave souls..its too late...may they rest in PEACE...

[Bombero1956]

13. These are the fallen brothers and length of service

* Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson, 30 years
* Capt. Mike Benke, 29-year veteran
* Capt. Louis Mulkey, 11 1/2 years
* Engineer Mark Kelsey, 12 1/2 years
* Engineer Bradford "Brad" Baity, Nine years
* Assistant Engineer Michael French, 1 1/2 years
* Firefighter James "Earl" Drayton, 32 years
* Firefighter Brandon Thompson, Four years
* Firefighter Melven Champaign, Two years

There will be recriminations later I'm sure. Was this business subject to annual inspections? if not why? The unfortunate thing is that people's careers are on the line here. Nine men are dead here and there will hard questions to answer.

My experience has been for property owners to try every trick under the stars to avoid doing the right thing. Hope these people can live with themselves.

[wicket]

16. May they all rest in peace

:cry: :cry:

[wicket]

12. kick

:kick: