Va. Department Marks 30 Years Since Its Only LODD

PETERSBURG, Va. -- Michael Goff was Petersburg Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services' first and, so far, only firefighter to die in the line of duty.

He died March 19, 1982.

Local firefighters, city leaders and members of the community gathered at the corner of Sycamore and Franklin streets Monday morning to remember their fallen comrade and the more than 30 other firefighters who were injured, many seriously, that fateful day.

Many attending the 30th anniversary ceremony remembered the day as if it were yesterday: They remembered a light rain was falling. They remembered the initial call was for smoke coming from the basement of a building at 101-103 N. Sycamore St. that housed a restaurant and apartments above.

A second alarm was sounded when the first responders arrived and saw how quickly the fire was spreading.

Goff's unit was not dispatched until the second alarm sounded.

Retired Fire Sgt. Donald Bish remembered that Goff was disappointed his unit at Walnut Hill wasn't immediately dispatched.

"He was throwing a fit because ... his unit wasn't the first to be dispatched," said Bish.

After Goff arrived, he was seen attempting to gain access to the rear of the building.

"We'll never know what he saw or thought he saw," Bish said, adding that Goff was most likely trying to protect someone.

Around the same time that Goff was going to the rear of the building, one of the residents, Daisy Houchins, 78, was trying to safely get down a fire escape. She died in the fire.

Suddenly, a series of explosions rocked the complex. The building collapsed as a result of the explosions. The structure came down upon itself, which may have saved lives. If the building had collapsed onto Franklin Street, it could have killed more firefighters.

Veteran fire Capt. Max Bornstein said that the explosion threw him under a fire truck. Other responders that day enroute from Colonial Heights said that when the building exploded, they saw and heard the explosion from the top of the hill where the Boulevard runs down into Petersburg.

Doug Webb, like Goff, at the time was a Petersburg fire sergeant who volunteered with Southside Virginia Emergency Crew in his off-time. Webb received a call for a transport from Southside Regional Medical Center -- then Petersburg General Hospital -- to another area hospital.

"When I got there to the emergency department, it was filled with my fire family and friends," Webb recalled. "They were burnt, broken and hurt."

Standing Monday morning near the place where Goff was found, Webb said that there were two firefighters who were severely injured -- skin hanging off their bodies -- who were attempting to leave the hospital.

"They didn't care whether they got a ride, walked or crawled -- they wanted to get back down here," Webb said.

When Goff was unaccounted for, Webb recalled that several calls went out to stations looking to see if Goff was somewhere "in quarters."

He wasn't.

Webb said that Petersburg firefighters stayed on the scene moving thousands of bricks looking for their friend.

"It was raining, we were getting wet and I can remember thinking, 'Just let him walk around that corner with that goofy smile on his face so I can punch him,'" Webb said.

Unfortunately, Goff didn't walk around the corner.

At some point during the search for Goff, someone suggested that another fire department take over so that the Petersburg firefighters could take a break.

Webb said that there was nearly a fist fight at the mere suggestion.

"He was ours," Webb said.

Petersburg firefighters found Goff around 2 a.m.. Webb remembered it was when the rain finally stopped.

Webb said that a year later he almost died fighting a fire across the street from where his friend had died a year earlier.

"It was to the day and nearly to the hour," Webb said. Since then, he has only worked one other March 19.

Bish said that all the firefighters who came to Petersburg that night will never forget the events of that night. He also said they all learned an important lesson: "It could happen to any of us."

Bish also said that while Goff made the ultimate sacrifice that day, there were many others who were physically hurt in fighting the fire. According to the program for yesterday's event, more than 30 were injured in the blaze, explosion and collapse -- 17 Petersburg firefighters were taken to the hospital with injuries.

Nearly 100 firefighters from Petersburg, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Prince George, Colonial Heights, Fort Lee and Hopewell battled the blaze and searched for victims in the rubble.

The explosion was so powerful that damage occurred to several surrounding buildings and the downtown area was affected for months after the event. A fork from the restaurant in the building was embedded in a building across North Sycamore Street and remained there until the Aug. 6, 1993, tornado.

At Monday's ceremony, Fire Chief T.C. Hairston said that "it scares me" to think about the fact that it's been 30 years since Goff's death.

"For the first time in about 28 years we have lots more people living downtown," he said.

Harry Baird, who is currently with the Chesterfield County Fire Department, said that he was with Southside Virginia Emergency Crew at the time of the fire.

"Mike was my best friend," Baird said. "He was 29 when he died and I was 27."

Baird described how, at the time his friend died, he was fit, swimming six miles a week, visiting the gym four times a week.

"But on the day of his funeral, I was laying on the ground outside J.T. Morriss on Washington Street in the fetal position, crying like a baby," Baird said.

During Monday's ceremony, fire trucks lined Franklin Street, an honor guard led the procession, bagpipes played a mournful tune and the tolling of the bell pierced the morning sky during a moment of silence. After that, a bronze memorial plaque was unveiled that showed Goff's likeness. Officials plan to install the plaque somewhere in the vicinity in the future.

Hairston said that he's trying to put together an event for retired firefighters in the area.

"We need to get together more often than this," he said.

For the past 29 years on the anniversary of his friend's death, Baird said he would call Goff's parents, who until recently, still lived in the area. He said they're 87 and 85 years old now and live in Maryland at an assisted living facility close to Goff's sister.

"Mike was my hero," Baird said.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service