June 18: On This Day in World History … briefly
In 2008, it was announced that South Carolina state lawmakers had approved a bill to name a 3.6 mile stretch of US Route 17 the 'Charleston Nine Memorial Highway' in honour of the fallen Charleston firefighters.
2007: Sofa store fire kills nine firefighters
A fire that occurred on the evening of June 18, 2007, at the Charleston Sofa Super Store in Charleston, South Carolina, killed nine firefighters. It was the deadliest firefighter disaster in the US since the September 11 attacks. The fire was believed to have started in some discarded furniture in the loading dock area and though the source of ignition has been left undetermined, there is reason to believe it may have been a discarded cigarette.
The building had no fire sprinkler system. The fire started at approximately 7pm in a covered loading dock area between the showroom and warehouse buildings which was attached to both buildings. At the time, the business was open and employees were present. Charleston firefighters arrived on the scene within three minutes of the alarm, followed soon after by firefighters from St Andrews Public Service District.
The initial attack focused on extinguishing the fire in the loading dock area, with a secondary effort to search for and evacuate people inside, and prevent the fire from spreading to the showroom and warehouse. Crews entering the showroom reportedly initially encountered clear visibility with only very light puffs of smoke visible near the ceiling at the back of the showroom. Shortly thereafter, an exterior door was opened near where the fire was raging. Efforts to close the door failed, allowing the fire to enter the showroom.
Firefighters were ordered to stretch two hose lines into the showroom to attack the spreading fire; however, the pre-connected hose line from one of the units was too short. This required some firefighters to again exit the building to add additional sections of hose, and left only one small handline to hold back the growing fire. At about this time, fire dispatchers advised the crews on-scene that they had received a 911 call from an employee who was trapped in the warehouse, which required some firefighters to direct their attention to the rescue. The trapped employee was eventually rescued by firefighters who breached an exterior wall to reach him.
Despite efforts to confine and extinguish the fire, it continued to spread into the structure and ignited furniture in the showroom, growing more quickly than the few operating hose lines could control. Meanwhile, efforts to stretch and begin operating additional hose lines continued. At 7.41pm the showroom area of the store experienced a flashover while at least sixteen firefighters were working inside.
The flashover contributed to the rapid deterioration of the structural integrity of the building, leading to a near-complete collapse of the roof minutes later. Many of the firefighters caught in the flashover were unable to escape and were trapped under the collapsed roof and shelving weakened by the fast-spreading fire. Several calls for help were made by trapped firefighters and efforts to rescue them were commenced. These efforts proved unsuccessful. By the time the fire was brought under control, nine Charleston firefighters had been killed.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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