First Bravest's Body Pulled From Building

Compiled from Reports by The Associated Press & Firehouse.Com News

Firefighters stood outside the smoldering ruins of a blaze that claimed six comrades, holding their helmets over their hearts as the first body was removed Sunday from the rubble.

The body of Timothy P. Jackson, 51, of Ladder Co. 2, was discovered Sunday morning.

A solemn fire brigade formed as the remains of Timothy P. Jackson passed between firemen rapt in a moment of silence - saluting, kneeling in prayer and making the sign of the cross.

Jackson's body was removed at about 10:30 a.m.

AP World Wide Photos/Michael Haran Firefighters in Worcester remove their hats Sunday, Dec 5, 1999, as officials prepare to remove the body of Firefighter Timothy P. Jackson, one of six firefighters killed in an abandoned cold storage warehouse fire that started late Friday and continued to smolder Sunday.

Firefighters looked on silently from rooftops, ladders and a pile of bricks outside the crumbling warehouse as their fallen brother was carried down ladders.

The six dead were identified as Firefighter Jackson, 51; Lt. Thomas E. Spencer, 42; Firefighter James F. Lyons III, 34; Firefighter Joseph T. McGuirk, 38; Firefighter Paul A. Brotherton, 41; and Firefighter Jeremiah M. Lucey, 38.

One of the firefighters had been filling in for a friend. Another had been shopping with his wife when he answered the call of duty

Brotherton, who had six children of his own, had also been a father to three younger siblings after their parents died in 1983, his family said.

A plaque on his bedroom wall read: ``When I am called to duty, God, wherever flames may rage, give me strength to save some life. And if according to your will I have to lose my life, please bless with your protecting hand my children and my wife.''

Lyons had been rushing to fires since he was a boy. In 1987, he finished first in his academy class.

``He would tug my hand when he heard the fire alarm and he would ask me to take him to the fire,'' his father, James F. Lyons Jr., said Sunday. ``He went into this fire to save people _ what he wanted to do.''

Witnesses had told firefighters Friday night that homeless people sometimes lived in the old cold storage warehouse. But officials on Sunday said there didn't appear to have been any squatters inside when firefighters entered the burning building. State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said all the homeless known to live in the area had been located.

Two firefighters went into the building to look for the homeless people, then relayed a mayday call when they began to run out of air. Other firefighters went in after them, but the trapped men were not found four men from the rescue team also never returned.

Firefighters from Worcester and throughout the region remained on the scene Sunday, contining to wait for word on finding more victims.

"We came here at about this time two days ago with five people and we're leaving with five people," a member of Rescue Co. 1 was quoted as saying on the scene late Sunday, meaning that his crew intended to stay until the remaining five firefighters were pulled from the structure.

"We had pulled people out of the building and put the heavy equipment back in there are entering the structure again to try to find these victims," Worcester Fire Department spokesman District Chief Walter Girard said.

IAFF spokesman George Burke, who was on the scene, told Firehouse.Com News that Girard and Jackson came on the job at the same time 27 years ago.

Girard said officials had knocked down more segments of the building and moved further into it in their search.

"It's tedious and pain staking ... we're moving in there as fast and as safely as possible," Girard said.

"It's still burning in there, still smoldering," Burke said. "They're using a backhoe, with a firefighter hanging off the side looking at every grain of rubble that is removed."

A FEMA search and rescue team, engineers, confined-space cameras, and numerous emergency service agencies from throughout the state and country were assisting in the search, Girard said.

Girard said there are no more than two teams of two searchers in the building at one time. If one of those teams finds something, a recovery team of no more than four additional searchers goes in.

Mutual aid companies from throughout the New England area are covering for Worcester companies, including companies from Boston, Lowell and Townsend, Mass.

NIOSH will begin and investigation into the ciructmstances surrounding the tragedy, Girard said.

MEMORIAL SERVICE PLANNED

The Worcester Fire Department, IAFF, and city officials have announced that a memorial service is planned for the six fallen heroes this Thursday, at 11 a.m. at the Worcester Centrum, Burke said. More than 10,000 firefighters and members of the community are expected to attend, Burke said.

In a brief memorial at the scene, local firefighters saluted as the body of a fallen comrade was carried out of a burned-out warehouse.

In churches around the city, two men who gave their lives searching for homeless people in an abandoned warehouse Friday night, and their four colleagues who died trying to find them, were remembered for their bravery.

"Lying at the base of their work is a dedication that all life is precious,'' the Rev. Rocco Piccolomini at Our Lady of Mount Carmel said in his sermon. "They are heroes every day.''

A memorial service for the six was scheduled Thursday morning at the Worcester Centrum, the city's largest arena. Individual funerals and memorials were planned Friday and Saturday at the churches the firemen attended.