Charleston Fire Started On Loading Dock
The blaze that killed nine firefighters in a furniture store started on a loading dock, federal investigators confirmed Saturday, a day after the victims were mourned in a joint ceremony.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said investigators have completed their probe at the scene and will continue examining evidence for the cause of the blaze, which caused the single heaviest loss of firefighters since the Sept. 11 attacks.
The loading dock area was a covered space between the showroom and the warehouse of the Sofa Super Store, which burned Monday night. The area housed a trash bin and was used to store old furniture that was to be thrown away. It also was frequented by employees on their cigarette breaks, one store worker has told The Associated Press.
Investigators have refused to discuss any possible causes of the fire, and would only say Saturday where it started. They declined to comment on whether a cigarette may have started the blaze.
The investigation "will be systematic, deliberate and tenacious and it will take time," said Ken Chisholm, special agent in charge of the ATF's national response team for the region.
He would not say where on the loading dock the fire may have started.
Employees of the store have said they also used the space to check furniture before it was shipped to customers. Store worker Sylvester Washington said the trash bin, used for cardboard boxes and plastic wrapping, was about half-full when he left work some 30 minutes before the fire was first reported. Nearby, a couch, a love seat, a sofa sleeper and a broken recliner sat on a loading ramp, he said.
Washington said employees were warned against flicking cigarettes into the trash. "That's grounds for dismissal," he told the AP on Thursday.
Assistant Fire Chief Larry Garvin, who decided the structure was safe for firefighters to enter, said Wednesday that he believed the fire started in trash left on the dock area and may have crept into the store's drop ceiling before the men went inside. Firefighters pulled the lone trapped employee from the fire by punching through a wall of the building.
Saturday's confirmation on where the fire started came a day after a massive memorial service drew thousands to this seaside city to honor the men.
"They were moving-forward people. They were firefighters and that's what we are going to be doing from yesterday forward to attend to our responsibilities in this community, but with more courage and a greater sense of duty and a greater sense of service," Mayor Joseph P. Riley said Saturday.
Killed were: Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson, 48; Capt. Mike Benke, 49; Capt. Louis Mulkey, 34; Mark Kelsey, 40; Bradford "Brad" Baity, 37; Michael French, 27; James "Earl" Drayton, 56; Brandon Thompson, 27; and Melvin Champaign, 46.
At Benke's funeral Saturday, Fire Chief Rusty Thomas recounted a conversation with his own son earlier in the week about why God took the men. "He's got nine, so now he's got a baseball team. He's got an all-star team," Thomas told the crowd of about 300 mourners.
Later, at Drayton's service, hundreds gathered to pray and sing as members of a church choir clapped tambourines. Thomas and Riley also spoke.
"Since late Monday night there has been the most extraordinary outpouring of love," the mayor told the congregation. "It makes us able to face the future when we have these sad and heartbreaking times."
Baity and Thompson's funerals also were to be held Saturday. Hutchinson's funeral was held Friday.