9 Lost Heros

[huskernumerouno]

S.C. warehouse fire kills 9 firefighters By BRUCE SMITH, Associated Press Writer

16 minutes ago

 

 

 

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Fire swept through a furniture warehouse, collapsing the building's roof and claiming the lives of nine firefighters in a disaster the mayor described Tuesday as "difficult to fathom or quantify."

 

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"Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting fire in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said at a morning news conference. "To all of their loved ones, our heart goes out to them."

 

Two employees in the building were rescued from the blaze, which broke out at about 7 p.m. Monday in the Sofa Super Store and warehouse, Riley said.

 

Overnight, firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers saluted as the bodies were carried from the warehouse.

 

"To lose nine is just a tragedy of immense proportions," Riley said. "To lose nine is just unbelievable."

 

Riley said the county coroner planned to disclose the names of the dead. The cause of the fire was under investigation, but Riley said arson was not suspected.

 

He said the blaze apparently started in a storage area. He was unsure whether there were sprinklers in the building.

 

Witnesses said the store's roof collapsed, throwing debris over about two-dozen rescue workers. Onlookers were hit with flying ash.

 

"It was like a 30-foot tornado of flames," said Mark Hilton, who was struck in his eye.

 

Daniel Shahid, a salesman at a nearby car dealership, said firefighters came in asking for towels.

 

"The next thing you know, we were carrying hoses, directing traffic, everybody from the dealership," he said.

 

Shahid said he saw firefighters rescue four people from the building.

 

"They were struggling. They were covered in black soot. They looked scared out of their minds," Shahid said.

 

He later told CNN the roof collapsed too quickly for anyone to escape.

 

"It came from nowhere," he said. "It was a standing structure and five seconds later it was on the ground."

 

Riley called the firefighters heroes.

 

"This is a profession that we must never take for granted," the mayor said. "There's a fire raging and they go toward it."

 

 

 

God Bless these fire fighters and their families.

[husker rob]

sad story indeed

[AR Husker Fan]

My understanding - from new reports this morning - is that the building wasn't sprinklered. That's the really sad part. Had it been, the loss of lives would have been avoided, or at least reduced.

[huskernumerouno]

How does something like that get away from the fire codes. even with the grand father clause in some building codes, there has to be a way to protect people from this type of loss of life. At some point the value of the dollar is not worth the risk.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

WOW rest in peace gentleman.................

[strigori]

How does something like that get away from the fire codes. even with the grand father clause in some building codes, there has to be a way to protect people from this type of loss of life. At some point the value of the dollar is not worth the risk.

It gets away with it, because most cities do not require buildings built before the enacting of a code to update the buildings. Only new buildings are required to meet all the fire codes, or almost any code for that matter.

[MCAT800]

How does something like that get away from the fire codes. even with the grand father clause in some building codes, there has to be a way to protect people from this type of loss of life. At some point the value of the dollar is not worth the risk.

It gets away with it, because most cities do not require buildings built before the enacting of a code to update the buildings. Only new buildings are required to meet all the fire codes, or almost any code for that matter.

 

Sort of, any time a building is renovated it must be brought up to meet the current codes. Some cities enforce it others don't.

Our dept is very active in all construction reviews and blueprint reviews to ensure that the codes are being met.

 

I am heading to S.C. on Thursday as a rep from our dept. Not sure if I am looking forward to that. We lost a guy in 2000 and it's still tough.

 

Carry on Leather Heads and we wont forget

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

Holy Cow!! That's terrible!! God Bless these fine men.