May 31, 2001
Heroes Under Fire
After National Mourning, Legal Proceedings
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Worcester's toll: Tom Spencer, Jay Lyons, Paul Brotherton, Tim Jackson, Jerry Lucey, Joe McGuirk (AP)
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Worcester Warehouse Fire
Trace the Worcester fire's impact on that community and review notable blazes in U.S. history.
First two firemen, then two more became lost in the smoky haze. Heavy black smoke, fueled by the petroleum lining of the cold storage lockers, poured from the lockers and into the stairway; it was impossible to see.
District Chief Mike McNamee made a tough call: He ordered everyone out. But when it was all over, the fire had claimed six of Worcester's bravest.
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More than 12 hours passed before the conflageration was finally controlled. Then the nation mourned the fallen heroes at a ceremony attended by firefighters from across the country.
In the weeks following the blaze, the building that had taken such a terrible toll on the city finally surrendered to a demolition crew, and the remnants of the old Cold Storage Warehouse were torn down and cleared away.
Now, almost a year and a half later, the lot is vacant, with just a thin layer of gravel to mark the outline of where the six-story warehouse once stood. A fence now surrounds the site, and there's a kind of make-shift memorial: tributes, reminders, personal expressions of people touched by this tragedy. Worcester will never forget.
Last month, a federal safety panel cited equipment failure and confusion over the building's layout. But the lead investigator acknowledged there's no way of knowing if anything could have prevented the deaths of the firefighters. There are many heroes of the Worcester fire: the firefighters who died in the call of action, and their comrades who bravely carry on. But is there someone to blame? Are there people responsible?
A Decision: New family ties are forged amid the legal proceedings. Discover what the judge in the case ruled and why. What To Do With Abandoned Buildings? What can be done with aging hulks of the industrial age, forgotten warehouses, factories and aging tenements. Should they be dismantled as potential firetraps or converted to new uses? © MMI Viacom Internet Services Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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