Updated: Tuesday, December 7, 1999 - 5 AM
"Mayday ... We're running out of air."
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CATHERINE IVEY
Associated Press
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- The first two firefighters headed into the burning warehouse to search for homeless people who might be inside. Minutes later, a voice crackled over the radio: ''Mayday, Mayday, we're running out of air.''
Four other firefighters disappeared into the smoke in an attempt to rescue their colleagues.
AP World Wide Photos/Paul Connors
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None returned.
The six Worcester firefighters are believed to have perished in the five-story conflagration that continued to smolder Saturday night.
''People have to understand why these firefighters went into this building,'' said Mayor Ray Mariano. ''They went in because there was a chance that homeless people were in there. And the others risked their lives for their comrades.''
It was the worst blaze in the country in terms of firefighters lost in a building in more than 20 years, according to a Web site that tracks fire statistics.
''It's three weeks before Christmas. There's roughly 15 kids out there without fathers,'' said District Fire Chief Michael McNamee.
Ten Catholic priests were among those who rushed to the warehouse to comfort the firefighters' families and pray for the missing.
''It was probably one of the worst nights in our priesthood,'' said the Rev. Peter Scanlon, the fire department's Catholic chaplain.
Fire officials identified the six as Lt. Thomas E. Spencer, 42, of Worcester; Firefighter Timothy P. Jackson, 51, of Hopedale; Firefighter James F. Lyons, 34, of Worcester; Firefighter Joseph T. McGuirk, 38, of Leicester; Firefighter Paul A. Brotherton, 41, of Auburn; and Firefighter Jeremiah M. Lucey, 38, of Leicester.
Lyons' father, also named James F. Lyons, said his son, a fireman for 12 years, loved his job.
''He was a wonderful young man, and we're going to miss him greatly,'' the elder Lyons said Saturday night.
Scanlon said two had once served as altar boys. One had done readings at a firefighters' memorial Mass. Brotherton was the father of six children, Worcester District Fire Chief James Callery said.
''This is not a typical day in our city,'' Mariano said. ''This morning the sun didn't rise. It didn't rise because last night we lost six members of our family.''
Lt. Geoffrey Gardell said he knew all six of the men.
''They were six great guys. ... They were six really good firefighters,'' he said. ''It could have been any one of us.''
Gardell watched the smoldering fire Saturday with his wife, Nancy, who came to the Franklin Street warehouse the night before to make sure he was OK. She said she felt for the married firefighters' wives.
''My heart goes out to them,'' she said. ''I can't imagine anything worse.''
About 100 friends and relatives of the victims spent Saturday huddled at the nearby Our Lady of Mount Carmel church. The Red Cross ran shuttles to the warehouse, where an area had been set aside for them to observe the building.
''They let them come as close as safety will allow,'' said Constance Morrisson, a Red Cross mental health worker. ''It's the saddest day I've ever known in the history of this city.''
McNamee said he told relatives the recovery of their loved ones' bodies and the investigation into what caused the fire would probably be a ''long, slow, tedious process.''
The fire at the abandoned five-story cold storage building posed a stiff challenge from the start. The building, constructed about 80 years ago, was a confusing maze of dark, smoky rooms. It had no windows on the upper floors, which not only impeded firefighters' ability to find their way around inside, but also trapped heat inside. Cork insulation added to the smoke.
President Clinton released a statement of condolence for the victims' families.
''The six firefighters, who are now missing and presumed dead, valiantly put their lives on the line in the effort to save others and protect their city,'' Clinton said. ''Their courageous service reminds us all of the tremendous commitment and sacrifice made by the thousands of firefighters across America who risk their own lives every day to protect our communities.''
Gov. Paul Cellucci ordered flags at state facilities lowered to half-staff, and flags at fire stations were also lowered Saturday.
The fire was reported around 6:15 Friday evening. The firefighters were reported missing at around 7:30.
McNamee said the first two firefighters who where reported missing entered the building both to look for homeless people and fight the fire from the inside. They were part of a group of about 35 working inside the building at the time, McNamee said.
Smoke continued to pour from the hulking warehouse Saturday night as firefighters doused it with water.
AP World Wide Photos/Gail Oskin
An couple console each other outside the former Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building, Saturday afternoon, Dec. 4, 1999 in Worcester, Mass. The couple, described themselves as friends of the six firefighters that are presumed dead, trapped inside the building.
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Around midday, two firefighters and a structural engineer entered the building for the first time since the firefighters were lost. Shortly after, a wrecking ball began knocking a hole in one wall to give investigators better access to the building's interior.
Fire Chief Dennis Budd said it wasn't clear what caused the blaze. But Worcester Deputy Fire Chief Gerard Dio called the fire suspicious because firefighters initially fought two fires that appeared to have begun separately.
A fire captain who declined to give his name said witnesses told firefighters homeless people in the past had built fires in the warehouse to keep warm.
State Fire Marshall Stephen Coan said no evidence had been uncovered to indicate that any homeless people had died in the fire. He said city, state and federal investigators had been interviewing firefighters and witnesses, and they would begin looking for physical evidence once safety permitted them to examine the interior of the building.
Fire officials said the dismantling of one wall of the building would be a slow and systematic process. Coan said spotlight-equipped state police helicopters would hover over the smoking building during the night to give officials a good look inside.
Six dead firefighters would make the blaze the country's deadliest building fire in terms of firefighters killed in more than two decades, according to Firehouse.com, a Web site that tracks federal statistics on firefighter deaths.
On Aug. 2, 1978, six New York City firefighters died in a roof collapse in a supermarket fire.
The Worcester fire would be the country's second deadliest this decade in terms of firefighters killed, according to Firehouse.com. On July 6, 1994, 14 firefighters died battling a blaze on South Canyon mountain near Glenwood Springs, Colo.
The deadliest fire for Massachusetts firefighters occurred on March 10, 1946 when 13 firefighters were killed in a roof collapse at the Strand Theatre in Brockton.
The fire prompted officials to close Interstate 290, the city's central highway. Two westbound lanes were reopened Saturday evening, but police officials said the eastbound lanes would remain closed, possibly until Monday. Fire trucks were spraying water on the building from the highway, and officials also wanted to ensure that the blaze's extreme heat hadn't damaged the road.
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