PETER CIANCONE and KARIN GRUNDEN
Courtesy Tribune-Star
Terre Haute firefighters took less than three hours to put out the fire.
It will take longer to extinguish the pain of losing one of their own.
The collapse of a cinder block facade at an early morning fire Monday on North 25th Street took the life of 24-year veteran Capt. Ralph Stott, 50.
Two other firefighters were injured. Paramedic Barry Nicoson underwent surgery for wrist and hand injuries. He was in good condition Monday afternoon in Union Hospital, said Lorrie Heber, spokeswoman for the hospital.
Lt. Russell Feuquay was taken to the hospital with an ankle injury, said Chief John Brighton. He was treated and released, Heber said.
Witnesses said they heard an explosion before the fire. The cause of the blaze is under investigation by several agencies.
Darrell Cunningham, a neighbor to Russell's Garage and Body Shop at 3141 N. 25th St., said he heard its burglar alarm go off late Sunday night.
"I never gave it much thought," he said. "It goes off all the time."
About two hours later, he said, he heard a muffled explosion, looked out his back window and saw flames coming out the back of the garage. Cunningham said he called 911.
Marie Block, whose house is closer to the building, said there was nothing muffled about the explosion.
"The explosion shook the house," she said.
Neither witness checked the time of the incidents.
Brighton said four fire units and an ambulance were dispatched on the call at 2:04 a.m. Monday. The building, on the east side of 25th Street between Prairie and Steelton avenues, was in flames when units arrived.
Battalion Chief Blaine Chandler led a group of firefighters around the west end of the building facing 25th Street to attack the blaze. Brighton said Chandler described walking toward their position.
"[Chandler] told me he had his hand on Ralph's shoulder," Brighton said.
The front of the building had a cinder block facade held up by steel cables.
"From what I understand, it broke loose and fell forward," Brighton said. Chandler was directing where the team's fire hose would go. "The next thing [Chandler] knew, he was almost out by the street," knocked aside by the debris.
Stott was caught underneath hundreds of pounds of cinder blocks.
"They had to pull blocks off to get to him," Brighton said.
Paramedics tried to resuscitate Stott at the scene. He was pronounced dead at 3 a.m. in Union Hospital, Brighton said. An autopsy was performed Monday afternoon, the results of which were unavailable.
The business was owned by Larry Russell of Terre Haute, said Capt. Rick Erney of the Terre Haute Police Department. The building is owned by Thomas Osborn, who lives in Paris, Ill., according to records in the Vigo County Treasurer's Office. Neither Russell nor Osborn could be reached for comment.
Investigators from Terre Haute fire and police departments sifted through the debris alongside teams from the State Fire Marshal's Office and investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Jeff Groh, Indianapolis ATF agent in charge, said his agency was asked to be involved. Three federal agents were on hand to assist with determining a cause, he said, adding that the ATF is often involved in cases where a firefighter has died in the line of duty.
Erney said the police investigators included members of the Vigo County Drug Task Force, who were sent "to cover all the bases."
He added that police were not able to confirm that a burglar alarm activated at the business before the fire. The alarm service had been disconnected since mid-September, he said.
Hours after the fire was out, small groups of firefighters continued to gather at the scene, at Fire Department headquarters and at the stations around the city. Conversation was quiet; glances directed downward or to the side.
"It's just a real emotional time for the firefighters," Brighton said. Stott is the 12th Terre Haute firefighter killed in the line of duty. Nobody currently on the department was a member when the last firefighter, John O'Brien, died in 1963.
"We all feel bad," said Lt. Clifford "Randy" Phillips, whose crew would have relieved Stott and his crew at Station 11 at 26th Street and Maple Avenue. "But if we have to go out on a fire right now, we're going to go."
Brighton was at a loss for words as he stood at the scene Monday morning amid the lingering smell of smoke -- a smell that one firefighter's wife said stuck to her husband after a fire.
"You look at this and ..." Brighton said, stuck in mid-sentence, pausing to survey the charred blocks, twisted metal siding and burnt wood. Brighton's eyes reflected the disbelief seen in dozens of others Monday. "We fight fires like this all the time," he said.
Related:
Capt. Ralph Stott Dies in Facade Collapse