Updated: Monday, December 13, 1999 - 4 PM
After 8 Days, Searchers Head Home
The Associated Press
Drained firefighters and relief workers applauded after the last of six firefighters was pulled from the ruins of an abandoned warehouse.
Then, for the first time in eight days, they headed home.
On Sunday, only officials investigating the blaze, Red Cross workers packing to leave and scattered mourners remained at the site of the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. fire where the six men lost their lives Dec. 3.
But the new quiet failed to reflect the city's continuing agony over the tragedy, according to the Rev. Joseph Coonan of nearby St. John's Catholic Church.
``This is not something people will ever get over, ever,'' he said.
The body of Paul Brotherton, 41, was discovered Saturday evening, bringing to a close the round-the-clock search through the building's rubble for the remains of the six men.
Sunday morning, efforts at the site were scaled back, according to District Chief James Callery. Workers used a crane to knock down the western wall of the warehouse, which will be completely demolished once the investigation is concluded.
About 80 Red Cross volunteers dismantled the tent city that sprung up to support emergency workers during the crisis. About 280 volunteers worked rotating six-hour shifts during the recovery effort, serving 25,000 meals, said Red Cross spokeswoman Nicole Valentine. A single team of four to five workers will remain until investigators were finished, she said.
After Brotherton's body was removed from the building, a moment of silence was observed and a trumpeter played ``Taps.'' The crowd then broke into solemn applause as the nonstop recovery efforts finally ended.
The remains of Jeremiah M. Lucey, 38, were discovered Saturday morning, hours after 42-year-old Lt. Thomas E. Spencer's body was found in the early morning.
Timothy P. Jackson, 51, was pulled from the building last Sunday. James Lyons III, 34, was recovered Wednesday. The body of firefighter Joseph T. McGuirk, 38, was found Friday night.
``These firefighters accomplished what is the most difficult task of a member of the fire service, and that is bringing one of our own home,'' said State Fire Marshall Stephen Coan.
``We now are able to focus over the next few days on bringing those fallen brothers home to God,'' he said.
Jackson was buried Saturday. Lyons' funeral was scheduled for today and McGuirk's was scheduled for Tuesday.
While the search for the men's bodies concluded, the investigation into how the tragedy occurred continued. Fire officials say Brotherton and Lucey went into the building to save homeless people believed to be inside, became disoriented in the fire's thick smoke and radioed for help after they began losing air. The four others were members of a rescue party sent in to find them.
Investigators believe a homeless couple started the fire when they knocked down a candle during an argument. Thomas S. Levesque, 37, and Julie Ann Barnes, 19, were being held in lieu of $1 million's bail after pleading innocent to involuntary manslaughter.
Mourners continued to visit the building Sunday, placing wreaths, flowers and remembrances around a parked fire truck. The tributes sat 2 feet deep and extended 6 feet around the engine.
Coonan led teens from the church's confirmation classes to the truck to lay carnations. He said a tremendous sadness hangs over the city.
``Maybe come Christmas, people will be more open to joy. Not happiness, joy,'' he said. ``But nobody's going to get over this one.''
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