Updated: Saturday, December 11, 1999 - 11:30 PM
"Everybody Home" as Last Hero is
Pulled from the Rubble
The Associated Press
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- The remains of three more of the six firefighters killed in a huge warehouse fire were found Saturday, ending an eight-day ordeal that saw firefighters digging around the clock through rubble for their fallen comrades.
Paul A. Brotherton, 41, whose body was disovered about 9:30 p.m., was the sixth firefighter found. Officials said he was among the first two firefighters who went into the building Dec. 3 to search for homeless people, and family members believe it was his voice heard crying out, ''Mayday! Mayday! We're running out of air,'' over the radio.
''They're glad they've brought everybody home,'' District Chief Walter Giard said at a press conference late Saturday night. ''They're happy they've reached closure to this, but there's always that pain of why we're here.''
Lt. Thomas E. Spencer's body was discovered in the early morning hours Saturday in the middle of the collapsed, five-story brick warehouse, near a doorway in the firewall that separates the two halves of the building, said Giard.
At about 10 a.m., Jeremiah M. Lucey, 38, was discovered near an exterior wall, officials said.
Brotherton and Lucey had entered the blaze looking for homeless people who lived there. When they became overwhelmed by smoke, they called for help. Four other firefighters were part of a search party that went after them. None survived.
AP World Wide Photos/Paul Connors
Worcester firefighters lift the casket containing the remains of fallen firefighter Timothy Jackson onto the back of a fire engine following funeral services Saturday, Dec. 11, 1999 at the Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Worcester, Mass. Jackson and five colleagues were killed battling a wharehouse blaze Friday, Dec. 3.
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Crews had worked around the clock ever since in search of the bodies, saying they hoped to recover all of their lost ''brothers.''
''It's a very difficult day, but hopefully it's one more step towards closure in this tragic incident,'' said State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan, before entering the Saturday funeral of firefighter Timothy P. Jackson, 51.
Jackson's remains were pulled from the rubble last Sunday. James Lyons III, 34, was recovered Wednesday. On Friday night, the body of firefighter Joseph T. McGuirk, 38, was found not far from where the 42-year-old Spencer was later discovered.
Lyons' funeral was scheduled for Monday.
About 1,000 mourners attended Jackson's funeral at Our Lady of Rosary church. Most were firefighters, family members and friends from Jackson's motorcycle club, said the Rev. Jim Shea.
AP/Betty Jenewin, Pool
Firefighters salute as the remains of Jeremiah M. Lucey, the fifth firefighter located, are removed from the scene of the Worcester Cold Storage & Warehouse Co. building Saturday afternoon, Dec. 11,1999.
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Jackson's body was carried to the church on a fire truck.
''It was very somber,'' Shea said, adding that space limitations forced about 300 mourners to follow the service on a simulcast from the parish hall.
Speaking at the service was Diane Flynn-Pellegrino, Jackson's stepdaughter. ''His legacy to all who knew and loved him is his sense of humor and his ability to have laughter even in the most difficult of times,'' she said.
Coan said the loss of the six firefighters and the huge effort to recover their bodies has galvanized the state's firefighting community.
''It has elevated the fire community in this state to a plateau well beyond anyone's thoughts and imagination,'' Coan said.
A homeless couple accused of accidentally starting the blaze have pleaded innocent to involuntary manslaughter. Thomas S. Levesque, 37, and Julie Ann Barnes, 19, were being held on $1 million cash bail. Prosecutors say they sparked the fire when they knocked over a candle during an argument.
Support for the firefighters' families continued to pour in Friday. Nearly $1.25 million had been received at the Firefighters Fund, an account set up by the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester.
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