MARY MARSHALL
ICHIEFS Publications Editor

Nine months after the tragedy in Worcester, MA, claimed the lives of six fire fighters, Chief Dennis Budd and Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Steve Coan presented the lessons learned and recommendations to the audience at Fire-Rescue International's Disaster Night session on Sunday, Aug. 27. The lessons learned focused on the large-scale recovery efforts in the eight days following the disaster and taking care of the survivors-immediate family and fire fighter family.

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"I'm just like every fire chief here tonight," said Budd as he began his presentation. He described Worcester as a large New England city, and the area where the fire raged at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse building is an industrial railroad hub. He also noted the construction of the six-story building, which was known to fire fighters as "the building from hell." The building, which was insulated to keep cold in, had very few windows. The layout of the building, which contained a series of freezers and meat lockers, was literally a maze.

To make matters worse, Budd said that there were no preventive measures to make the building safe from fire. There was no smoke control, no standpipes, the sprinkler system was turned off as per agreement with the building department, and there was no fire department connection to sprinkler system.

The incident

In a somber voice, Budd described the incident as has been described many times before. The Worcester Fire Department responded to a fire at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse building. Early reports on the scene indicated that two homeless people used the warehouse for shelter and might still be inside the burning building. Shortly before 6:30 p.m., fire fighters entered the building to search for the couple. At this point, visibility was clear. Less than an hour later, conditions worsened considerably.

Shortly before 7 p.m., the first signs of trouble appeared. During this time, Rescue 1 fire fighters Paul Brotherton and Jerry Lucey called in a Mayday report. They said they were low on air and lost in the building. They gave their location as two floors below the roof.

Search and rescue teams, carrying ropes, were deployed to locate Brotherton and Lucey. Just after 7 p.m., conditions deteriorated rapidly. A third alarm was struck and mutual aid was requested. During this time, Lt. Thomas Spencer radioed that he and Timothy Jackson, both of Ladder 2, were lost on the fifth floor. He asked if someone could go to the door of the stairwell and yell to help them find their way out.

After Spencer and Jackson radioed that they were lost, fire fighters Jay Lyons and Joe McGuirk from Engine 3 entered the building to help with the search and rescue operations. Some time before 7:30, fire fighters Lyons and McGuirk made it to the fifth floor where Spencer and Jackson were lost.

Between 7:30 and 7:45, three attempts were made to contact the missing fire fighters from Ladder 2 and Engine 3. None of the men ever responded.

Investigative fire fighters were sent inside to report on interior conditions. They reported that they could not get above the third floor. Everything above was fully involved. Shortly before 8 p.m., a wall of fire shot through the roof, rising nearly 100 feet above the building. This was nearly an hour after Rescue 1's first Mayday call and more than 25 minutes since the last radio contact with Ladder 2. At that point, Budd called for a complete evacuation of the building. The operations became defensive and Budd knew he had a recovery operation rather than a rescue. He immediately called in a critical stress incident management team (CISM), which was coordinated through the State Department of Fire Services.

The recovery

In addition to the difficulties of battling a major fire, WFD was faced with serious challenges. First and foremost, they had lost six members and needed to conduct search and recovery. This would require prolonged operations, expected to last at least several days if not weeks. It would also require major technical and engineering needs and continuity of operations while engaged in extinguishments.

In terms of personnel, there were additional problems. All local resources were committed to the incident.

Outside factors included a major influx of help that did not bring its own support, weather conditions that made operations difficult to dangerous and national media attention.

The recovery operations to bring out the six fallen fire fighters would last eight days. It would require the cooperation and resources of fire departments and agencies across the state.

"During the recovery, smoldering debris would re-ignite," said Budd. "And going through the debris was like conducting an archeological dig. We wanted to maintain the integrity of the site, and we wanted to bring out these fire fighters with the dignity and respect that he deserved-and with respect for the families. "

The resources

Before the flames died at the Worcester Cold Storage building, help from outside the Worcester Fire Department was made available. The Massachusetts State Department of Fire Services, under the direction of State Fire Marshal Steve Coan, was on hand to help coordinate the logistics, which included assisting in coordinating continued fire protection for the state's second largest city (coordinated activation of Statewide Fire Mobilization Plan); assisting in identifying and obtaining expert assistance (FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Corps of Fire Service Chaplains and Peer Support); providing the supports necessary to sustain operations (Health and safety, food, ground support, supplies and equipment).

Coan said that the ability to successfully assist the Worcester Fire Department during the crisis was possible because the State Department of Fire Services had the Statewide Fire Mobilization Plan established prior to the incident.

"I think we were very fortunate in our state to have a document we could pull off the shelf-a statewide plan," said Coan. "I don't think we could have managed the amount of mutual aid resources for that community if we had to fly by the seat of our pants."

The support
As news of the Worcester tragedy unfolded, help poured in from across the region. The Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts assisted with statewide mobilization planning, provided staff officers and provided executive assistance to the fire marshal. The International Association of Fire Fighters and the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts provided peer support for the fire fighters and helped coordinate the memorial service.

The Chaplains Corps, formally established only weeks before the Worcester tragedy, were available to the families-immediate and fire fighter-to assist with emotional, religious and spiritual needs. Budd emphasized the importance of meeting not only the physical needs of the fire fighters and families, but the emotional needs as well. He said that having critical incident stress management at the scene is imperative.

In closing his remarks, Budd thanked all who had helped during the Worcester crisis. He also told the chiefs to take advantage of networking opportunities such as Fire-Rescue International. Earlier this year, Budd had spoken to the Metro Chiefs Section in Miami. He told them, too, how valuable their support had been. "If it wasn't for this organization, the opportunity to attend meetings and conferences such as these, for the networking and friendships...you don't know how important the conferences are until you have a situation like mine," said Budd. He said that he had spoken to Gary Marrs, chief of the Oklahoma City Fire Department, after the bombing in Oklahoma City. Marrs had told Budd to always make sure that he had a good relationship with his police chief. Budd did, and it helped during the recovery.

"I had thought that serving in Vietnam, seeing friends die...seeing death related to fire incidents, vehicle collisions, medical emergencies...I thought it would harden me to this," Budd said quietly. "Boy, was I wrong. There is nothing that can harden you to this."

Since the tragedy

In the aftermath, the state legislature has instituted the Massachusetts Initiative, which includes $10 million fire fighter safety and health community grants; enhanced fire fighter safety and survival training; the purchase of a new incident support unit; and the development of an Incident Support Management System. Charges were dropped against the homeless couple who set the fire. They had been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Ten lessons learned

1. Prepare for the long term operations.
2. Establish separate and limited media area. Hold scheduled incident briefings being cognizant of media deadlines.
3. Develop plans to provide food services to large numbers of personnel 24 hours a day during operations.
4. ID card system for site security tried and failed due to badges being requested as souvenirs.
5. Recognize local law enforcement issues in denying access to extended family and community residents.
6. While it was desirable to provide as much comfort as possible, it was also recognized that too much comfort would have the undesirable effect of preventing fire fighters from going home.
7. Develop community resource guide to identify needed materials to support the long term operation.
8. Provide privacy and coordination for family needs.
9. Establish statewide system of critical incident stress management teams and fire service chaplains.
10. Create state memorandum of understanding with FEMA for activation of USAR Team.
11. Develop statewide mobilization plan sufficient for major operations of long term duration. Match mutual aid assignments with company resources.