davebiggs Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 I'm sure most of you in the states have seen this but here is the story. Oh and before anyone says they don't care.... I'm a firefighter here in florida. R.I.P My Brothers. CHARLESTON, S.C. - Fire swept through a furniture warehouse, collapsing its roof and killing nine firefighters inside — the nation’s deadliest single disaster for firefighters since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “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. One was rescued quickly, and firefighters punched a hole through a wall of the warehouse to reach the other, he said. Firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers saluted as the firefighters’ bodies were carried from the warehouse during the night. “To lose nine is just a tragedy of immense proportions,” Riley said. “To lose nine is just unbelievable.” The department has 237 firefighters in 19 companies located throughout the city of about 106,000. 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. Here are their profiles Engineer Bradford "Brad" Baity Age: 37 Length of service: 9 years Capt. Mike Benke Age: 49 Length of service: 29 years Firefighter Melven Champaign Age: 46 Length of service: 2.5 years Firefighter James "Earl" Drayton Age: 56 Length of service: 32 years Assistant engineer Michael French Age: 27 Length of service: 1.5 years Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson Age: 48 Length of service: 30 years Engineer Mark Kelsey Age: 40 Length of service: 12.5 years Capt. Louis Mulkey Age: 34 Length of service: 11.5 years Firefighter Brandon Thompson Age: 27 Length of service: 4 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
still71 Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 man that sucks. It takes a real man to run into a burning building while everyone else is running out. Our prayers are with their families... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterHilton Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 That's terrible. I hope their families are provided for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebiggs Posted June 20, 2007 Author Share Posted June 20, 2007 They all are horrible losses but the one that gets me is the guy with 32 years of service....how many fires has he put out in his life time? only to loss it today, with 8 brothers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvdWarrior Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 This is terrible news, and my prayers and condolences are definitely with their families. I actually have a cousin that lives in Charleston, and I've been down there a time or two myself. It's one of my favorite places. It's a horrible thing that's happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappyboy Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Man, that's just wild in the most tragic sense of the word. When I first heard this news on the radio only two of the nine were confirmed to be firefighters. To lose nine is just horrible. My nephew's a Marine down that way studying at the Citadel. Leads me to wonder if he may have known any of these guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCanada Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 [QUOTE=still71;247228]man that sucks. It takes a real man to run into a burning building while everyone else is running out. Our prayers are with their families...[/QUOTE] or a drunk man. Some will see me as heartless, but at least these guys died on their own accord (kind of, they are firefighters after all, risks of the job and I commend anyone who risks their lives for others), but I hate when I see stories like this because people act all nobel and human loving for as long as its in the spotlight. I wish they released an article for every kid who dies somewhere in the world because they cant get clean water. Be posting a new article every minute or so. Even if you did it for every 9, be posting an article every 10 minutes or so then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undertaker666 Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 [QUOTE=MrCanada;247263]or a drunk man. Some will see me as heartless, but at least these guys died on their own accord (kind of, they are firefighters after all, risks of the job and I commend anyone who risks their lives for others), but I hate when I see stories like this because people act all nobel and human loving for as long as its in the spotlight. I wish they released an article for every kid who dies somewhere in the world because they cant get clean water. Be posting a new article every minute or so. Even if you did it for every 9, be posting an article every 10 minutes or so then.[/QUOTE] Most people are already aware of the suffering that some are subjected to across the globe, just because people don't constantly talk about it doesn't mean that they don't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebiggs Posted June 20, 2007 Author Share Posted June 20, 2007 You say the risk comes with the job, but how often do you find everyday people willing to run into a buning building, or in the event of 9/11 go running into certin death. The Troops face it everyday....but back here we tend to forget about the firefighters and the EMTs and the police. I'm not saying I don't care about the (in the voice of bono) "starving children" cause right now along with thousands of other firefighters I'm getting ready to go to SC for 9 funerals. and weather ya'll like it or not I'm going to thank them all for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
still71 Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 [QUOTE=MrCanada;247263]or a drunk man. Some will see me as heartless, but at least these guys died on their own accord (kind of, they are firefighters after all, risks of the job and I commend anyone who risks their lives for others), but I hate when I see stories like this because people act all nobel and human loving for as long as its in the spotlight. I wish they released an article for every kid who dies somewhere in the world because they cant get clean water. Be posting a new article every minute or so. Even if you did it for every 9, be posting an article every 10 minutes or so then.[/QUOTE] and this matters here because... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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