- Author
- Worcester Fire Department
- Title
- Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Fire, December 3, 1999. Board of Inquiry Report.
- Coporate
- Worcester Fire Dept., MA
- Report
- Board of Inquiry Report, 1999, 175 p.
- Keywords
- warehouses | storage | fire investigations | fire fighters | fire fatalities | death | injuries | fire departments | fire fighting | smoke | candles
- Identifiers
- Worcester, Massachusetts warehouse fire, Friday, December 3, 1999; fire operation; recovery phase
- Abstract
- On the evening of December 3, 1999, a fire in a vacant cold-storage warehouse at 266 Franklin Street in Worcester, Massachusetts claimed the lives of: Fire Lieutenant Thomas E. Spencer, Fire Fighter James F. Lyons, III, Fire Fighter Paul A. Brotherton, Fire Fighter Timothy P. Jackson, Fire Fighter Jeremiah M. Lucey, Fire Fighter Joseph T. McGuirk. The six victims had firefighting experience ranging from 2 years to 27 years, and as a group, they represented the three company types in the Worcester Fire Department. Fire Fighters Brotherton and Lucey, who were assigned to Rescue 1, responded on the first alarm, Lieutenant Spencer and Fire Fighter Jackson were assigned to Ladder 2; they responded on the third alarm. Fire Fighters Lyons and McGuirk were assigned to Engine 3 and also responded on the third alarm. Fire fighters located fire on the second floor of the six-story warehouse and had placed several hose lines in operation when conditions suddenly changed. Thick smoke quickly filled a large section of the second floor, which had been serving as a staging area for the fire attack. Company officers overseeing operations on the second floor ordered their fire fighters to back-out to the stairwells. As the fire fighters on the second floor were regrouping in the stanwells, two fire fighters from Rescue 1 declared an emergency. They radioed they were lost, low on breathing air, and on the ". . .floor below the top floor [fifth floor]." The Chief Officer directing the interior operation organized a search for the two lost fire fighters. He assigned crews from Engine 3, Ladder 1, and Ladder 2 to start the search. During a sweep of the fifth floor, a crew of four became disoriented. The Lieutenant, leading the crew of fire fighters from Engine 3 and Ladder 2, radioed Command stating they could not locate the stairwell.