Support Pours in For Fallen Heroes

TOM KIRCHOFER
Associated Press

BOSTON - Firefighters in Lawrence lowered their flags to half-staff. New York firefighters made plans to come to Worcester to pay their respects.

Fire departments around the Bay State and elsewhere were in mourning Saturday over the presumed death of six firefighters in a warehouse blaze in Worcester.

AP World Wide Photos/Angela Rowlings An unidentified Red Cross worker places a bouquet of flowers by a fence outside the former Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building, Saturday, Dec. 4, 1999, in Worcester, Mass.

On Saturday morning, Lawrence Fire Chief Richard Schafer sent a radio call to all the city's fire stations instructing them to lower their flags to half-staff.

He didn't have to say why. A city fire dispatcher said everybody had already heard about the disaster over their fire department pagers. Springfield, Leominster and Fitchburg were also among the many fire departments lowering their flags.

Dan Donohue, a Fitchburg deputy chief, joined a crew of firefighters responding to a two-alarm fire Saturday morning. He said the Worcester disaster was in the back of everyone's mind.

"You're just a little more cautious, a little more aware of your surroundings,'' said Donohue, who said he had worked with one of the dead Worcester firefighters at the fire academy in Stow. "We've all sat back with the `what-ifs.'''

In Springfield, District Chief Michael Collins said his firefighters were also on edge.

"It's on the top of their minds,'' he said. "You hope to put them at ease, but you never can. It will be in the news for a while.''

Condolences poured in to a firefighters' Web site, Firehouse.com.

"It is with my deepest sympathy that I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and fellow firefighters of Worcester Fire Department for their loss. May the Lord comfort you during this time of sorrow, all are in my prayers this morning,'' wrote Thomas W. Kickler, director of the fire department in Laurens County, S.C.

A writer who gave only the name "firechick204'' added: "I would like to let the firefighters and their families (know) that they are in my prayers. I am very sorry to hear of this tragedy and I wish there was more I could do to help. In reality all I can do is pray. I'm very sorry.''

Leominster's fire department chaplain joined fire chaplains from other communities who were assisting families and friends at the fire scene on a rotating basis.

The head of the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York left for Worcester on Saturday to offer his union's support, and a union spokesman said New York firefighters would attend funeral services.

"They will always be a part of our family,'' said spokesman Tom Butler.

In Worcester, the publisher of the city's newspaper, the Telegram & Gazette, set up a fund at a local bank to benefit the victims' families.

By Saturday afternoon, it had raised at least $16,000.

"It was clear it was going to be a disastrous happening in Worcester,'' said publisher Bruce Bennett, who saw the flames as he drove home from his office. "It turned out to be disastrous and tragic.''

Donations to the Firefighters Fund can be sent to Flagship Bank, 120 Front St., Worcester, Mass., 01608. Donations can also be made through the Telegram & Gazette's Web site at www.telegram.com.