Citing a report that an employee was trapped in a burning furniture store, Charleston Fire Chief Rusty Thomas on Wednesday defended the deployment of firefighters into the building as questions were raised about why so many were inside the store where nine men eventually died.
But the chief declined to provide details of the sequence of events leading to the greatest single day loss of life for firefighters in the nation since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, deferring questions as the department prepares for memorial services and federal agents investigate the fire’s cause and origin.
Mayor Joseph Riley said he expected an inquiry into how the fire spread so quickly, why firefighters were trapped inside the building and whether proper procedures were followed.
“The mayor would like to see if there are lessons to be learned and these are questions he would like looked into,” said city spokeswoman Barbara Vaughn.
A firefighter described a dramatic rescue of a store employee and air horn blasts from fire engines signaling an immediate evacuation just minutes before a rolling ball of flame and gas swept through the Sofa Super Store, apparently trapping firefighters. The roof collapsed shortly afterward.
Store employee rescued
Firefighters working from outside located employee Jonathan Tyrell in a rear workshop as he used a hammer to make noise. They pulled him to safety after using axes to chop a hole in a metal exterior wall, said Assistant Fire Chief Larry Garvin.
“The room was full of smoke,” Garvin said. “A few more minutes, and I’m sure he wouldn’t be with us.”
A timeline published in the local newspaper, The Post and Courier, which cited unidentified fire department officials, indicated Tyrell was pulled from the building five minutes before the fire exploded through the store.
On Wednesday, Charleston was mourning the loss of the firefighters. Police cars and fire engines served as escorts as hearses moved the remains of the dead from a county morgue to funeral homes in preparation for burial. A citywide memorial service is scheduled for Friday.
Rain hindered an investigation of the fire’s cause by the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. A spokesman said the ATF investigators would wait until dry weather permitted operation of a crane to remove the collapsed roof and rendered the site stable enough for agents to enter and gather evidence. City officials and investigators said there is no initial indication of arson.
During a brief interview in the fire chief’s office, Thomas explained the firefighters’ presence inside the burning building by referring to a 911 call from Tyrell.
Asked why the firefighters were inside, Thomas replied, “There was a 911 call that there was someone trapped in the building.” Tyrell spoke to fire officials at the scene after being connected by a 911 operator.
At the time, 17 firefighters were inside the building, Thomas said. Eight made it out safely.
Number of factors
Robert Duval, senior fire investigator for the National Fire Protection Association, a professional standard-setting organization, said commanders on the scene typically weigh a number of factors in deciding whether to remain in a building to fight a blaze. That includes the possibility that people are trapped inside, as well as the type of structure and the speed with which fire is spreading.
Another association official quoted in The State newspaper of Columbia, S.C. was more pointed in his assessment.
“It would seem like they probably should have been out of the building long before they were,” said Carl Peterson, the association’s director of the public fire protection division
Garvin, who was initially the senior fire official at the scene, described a blaze that rapidly progressed from an apparent trash fire to a conflagration.
“In 34 years of fire service, I’ve never seen a fire travel that fast with that magnitude,” he said.
Garvin said firefighters arrived with a report of a fire in either a trash heap or trash bin located between the furniture store and a separate warehouse in the rear.
Leading a team into the store to check for fire, he said he noticed “a little tad of smoke” seeping from a seam in the ceiling at the rear. After checking the doorknob to a back room and finding it was not hot, Garvin said he started to pull on the door and the force of gases from the fire blew it open.
“I couldn’t close the door,” he said.
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mdorning@tribune.com
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At issue in fire
Questions city officials want to answer about the Charleston fire:
*How did a trash fire in an outdoor bin manage to spread to a furniture store and explode into a raging inferno that killed nine firefighters?
*Why were as many as 17 firefighters inside the store when the roof came down?
*Did fire crews violate safe firefighting procedures?
*Were firefighters adequately trained and equipped?
— Associated Press
