Updated: Tuesday, December 7, 1999 - 5 AM
Two Firefighters Killed, Others Missing in Mass. Warehouse Fire
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CATHERINE IVEY
Associated Press
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- Six firefighters were feared dead after failing to emerge from a five-story blaze that roared through an abandoned industrial building.
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Reports indicate that two firefighters initially were trapped and transmitted
a "Mayday" call. At least four other firefighters went in after them and
are went missing. As the fire raged, crews had to abandon any searches and
fight the fire from the exterior.
The fire
rose to above five-alarms and engulfed
a five-story, brick 300x100 vacant former cold storage warehouse.
Tragedy in Structure Fire Unmatched in Recent Years
Dozens of fires in the U.S. in recent years have claimed two or
three firefighters each. But if all six firefighters are confirmed to have
perished in this blaze, it will the single
largest loss of firefighters on a single incident since 14 firefighters
were killed in the Storm King Mountain wildfire in July, 1994.
It would be the most firefighters to die in
a structure fire since
six firefighters died in a 1978 New York City supermarket fire,
according to the best statistics available,
The fire was the third deadliest in Massachusetts. In 1972, the Vendome Hotel fire
killed nine firefighters and injured eight others in a wall collapse.
A March, 1946 roof collapse at the Strand Theatre in Brockton, Mass. killed 13
firefighters.
Major Firefighter Fatality Incidents Since 1978
Only three other major emergency incidents, including two explosions and a wildfire, have claimed more than six firefighters at one time since 1978:
• July 23, 1984: A massive explosion at the Union Oil Company refinery in Romeoville, Ill. - the result of a propane gas leak in a cracking tower - killed 19 people, including ten members of the company's fire brigade.
• Nov. 29, 1988: Six firefighters in Kansas City, Mo. were killed instantly as they approached a semi-trailer from which smoke had been seen coming from. The trailers were loaded with explosives. The blast left two large craters in the ground.
• July 6, 1994: While operating at a major wildfire on Storm King Mountain near Glenwood Springs, Colo., 14 forestry firefighters were killed when shifting 70-mph winds trapped them and the fire swept over their position.
More Coverage From Firehouse.Com
• List: All Known Fires Since 1960 With More Five or
More Firefighter Fatalities
• Post Condolences Online
• About the Worcester, MA Fire Department
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Two of the firefighters had gone into the maze-like, brick structure shortly after the fire began at 6 p.m. on Friday to scout out flames and search for two homeless people who reportedly lived there, authorities said.
The two firefighters radioed for help after becoming disoriented, and four others who went in to rescue them became trapped as well, said Worcester Deputy Fire Chief Gerard Dio.
The six, all of Worcester, remained unaccounted for early today as the fire continued to burn. The fate of the homeless people who had been sought was also unknown, and it was not clear if they had been in the blazing building.
``This is obviously an extremely tragic situation,'' said State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan. ``The obvious hurt that is on the faces and in the minds of these firefighters from Worcester and the surrounding towns is just unbelievable.''
The fire is not expected to be put out until later today, State police Lt. Paul Malloney said. He said the building was completely gutted.
Family members of the six missing firefighters were asked to gather at a local church, according to a Worcester Fire Department captain who declined to give his name.
As firefighters continued to fight the blaze from the outside, a steady stream of people came by the scene to see if family or friends were among the missing.
Kathy Perry, whose brother Michael McNamee, an uninjured district fire chief, was among them.
``I keep thinking, there are mothers or wives out there thinking, `Is it my husband, is it my son?''' Perry said. ``And some of them are right _ it's them.''
Clergy were called to the scene to counsel firefighters and families, and firefighters asked reporters and paramedics to borrow their cell phones to let relatives know they were OK.
Witnesses told firefighters that the labyrinthine building, once home to a cold storage business, had become a refuge for the homeless who would build fires there for warmth.
Dio called the fire suspicious because firefighters initially fought two fires that appeared to have begun separately.
The building, near a train depot, was close enough to Interstate 290 that firefighters poured water on the blaze from a fire truck parked on the highway. Worcester is about 40 miles west of Boston.
Fire Lt. John Baudin said firefighters were in a somber mood as they worked, forced to remain outside knowing that the missing firefighters were trapped.
``We've got 300 guys over there itching to get back in the building to try and find them,'' he said.
The lost firefighters ranged in age from 30 to 50, and had served as firefighters from three years to more than 25 years, Dio said.
Worcester fire officials said the last time a firefighter was killed fighting a blaze in the town was in 1963.
If six firefighters are confirmed dead, it would be the country's deadliest building blaze for firefighters in more than two decades, according to Firehouse.com, a Web site that tracks federal statistics on such deaths.
The site said the Worcester fire would also be the country's second deadliest for firefighters overall this decade. On July 6, 1994, 14 firefighters died battling a blaze on South Canyon Mountain near Glenwood Springs, Colo.
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