Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire

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Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire

The Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire was a fire that began on December 3, 1999, in Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts

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The Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire was a fire that began on December 3, 1999, in Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts in the United States. A 2006 estimate put the population at 175,898, making it the estimated second-largest city in New England, after Boston, Massachusetts....
. It started when two homeless and mentally disabled people, Thomas S. Levesque and Julie Ann Barnes, who were living inside the warehouse, knocked over a candle after an argument earlier in the afternoon. Both fled without reporting the fire to emergency services. The structure was located five blocks east of the Worcester central business district, near the Union Station train station and adjacent to Interstate highway 290. The fire would eventually grow to five-alarm status and rage for six days before being brought under control. Firefighting companies from the city and from neighboring towns were called to respond.

Reports that homeless people were possibly inside the engulfed warehouse caused fire-rescue personnel to search the six-story building. The searchers' task was made extremely difficult by the large size of the building's interior and the highly flammable composition of its insulation. Nearly a century old, the interior walls had been progressively covered with various forms of insulating materials, including cork impregnated with tar, polystyrene foam, and polyurethane foam, to a thickness of 18 inches. Once ignited, the large amount of fuel, fed initially by the large volume of air in the building, became virtually inextinguishable.

The six-story building's exterior walls were constructed of approximately 18 inches of brick and mortar, with no windows above the second floor. The lack of available windows prevented firefighting personnel from making an accurate initial assessment of the fire. Initial breaching of lower-floor doors, combined with venting the building by smashing an elevator-shaft roof skylight, effectively turned the building into a huge chimney. With the fire rapidly accelerating out of control, rescue teams facing near-zero visibility became lost with available breathing air depleted. Despite repeated radio calls for help, along with activation of audible location alarms, six firefighters, who have since become known as the Worcester 6, perished in the blaze. It took eight days to find and recover the remains of the six men.

Services for the firefighters were held in the DCU Center

DCU Center

The DCU Center, formerly known as The Centrum, Centrum in Worcester and Worcester's Centrum Centre, is an indoor arena and convention center complex located in central business district Worcester, Massachusetts....
(then called the Worcester Centrum). The funeral procession was broadcast on several national news networks and was attended by President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the fifteenth Democrat elected to that office....
, Vice President Al Gore

Al Gore

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. is an United States environmentalism activist who served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President of the United States Bill Clinton....
, Senator Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy is the Senior Senator United States Senate from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party . In office since November 1962, Kennedy is the list of current United States Senators by seniority member of the Senate, after President pro tempore of the United States Senate Robert Byrd of West Virginia....
and Senator John Kerry

John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry is the Junior Senator United States Senate from Massachusetts and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.As the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party , he was defeated by 34 electoral votes in the United States presidential election, 2004 by the Republican Party incumbent President of the United States...
(who flew overnight from Vietnam to attend the funeral).

City leaders plan to erect a memorial to the Six in Institute Park, behind the Grove Street fire station. A new fire station now sits on the land formerly occupied by the cold storage facility, which was demolished immediately after the fire investigation.

Manslaughter charges against Levesque and Barnes were initially dismissed, but were reinstated on appeal. They received probation. Julie Ann Barnes was adopted by a family in Maine, the Kings, who had adopted Julie's sister.

The building's owners were not charged.

Timeline

Time	Incident
6:13PM	The first alarm was dispatched.
6:14PM	Engine 1 arrived on location reporting they had heavy smoke showing.
6:17PM	Car 3 requests the 2nd alarm be struck.
6:20PM	Ladder 1 reported fire on the second floor, and had multiple 2-1/2" lines being put in service for the suppression efforts.
6:24PM	Fire alarm tells command that they have a report that a citizen told a police officer Police officer A police officer is a Warrant employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes.... that "may be two people that live in that building."
6:32PM	Car 3 asks Rescue 1 if they've checked on the rumor of the two homeless people. Rescue 1 reports they have made a preliminary search, and haven't found anyone.
6:40PM	Car 2 requests the 3rd alarm be struck.
6:46PM	Rescue Heavy rescue vehicle A heavy rescue vehicle, often referred to as a rescue company, rescue squad, heavy rescue, or simply, fire engine is a type of specialty firefighting or EMS apparatus.... 1 reports to command that they are lost on the fourth floor and they are running out of air.
6:47PM	Rescue 1 calls Fire Alarm asking them to clear the air, and they have an emergency.
6:47PM	The Fire Alarm dispatcher Dispatcher Dispatchers are communications personnel responsible for receiving and transmitting pure and reliable messages, tracking vehicles and equipment, and recording other important information.... sounds the alert tones.
6:52PM	Car 2 requests the 4th alarm be struck and Chief Budd be notified.
6:53PM	Car 3 directs Rescue 1 to activate the PASS device PASS device PASS device is an acronym for Personal Alert Safety System, a personal safety device used primarily by firefighters entering a hazardous Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health environment such as a burning building, which sounds a loud audible alert to notify others in the area that the firefighter is in distress.... s to aid the other companies in locating them.
6:55PM	"They are activated," referring to the PASS devices. This is the last audible transmission from Rescue 1.
7:04PM	Ladder 2/Portable 2 asks Portable 1 his location. Portable 1 replies "Good question." They are now lost with Engine 3 on the fifth floor.
7:08PM	Ladder 2 requests for the Chief to send a crew to the stairwell and yell, so they can find it. They also report they are running low on air.
7:15PM	"Ladder 2 to command we're done..." This is the last transmission of the four man search team from Ladder 2/Engine 3.
7:26PM	Car 1 requests the 5th alarm be struck.
	The Millbury Fire Department came on mutual aid Mutual aid (emergency services) In emergency services, mutual aid is a agreement among emergency responders to lend assistance across jurisdictional boundaries. This may occur due to an emergency response that exceeds local resources, such as a disaster or a multiple-alarm fire.... to the scene. They brought a Thermal imaging camera Thermal imaging camera A thermal imaging camera is a type of thermographic camera used in firefighting. By rendering infrared radiation as visible light, such cameras allow firefighters to see areas of heat through smoke, darkness, or heat-permeable barriers.... with them. This was to be used in assisting the firefighters locate the missing firefighter Firefighter Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car accidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations.... s.
7:53PM	Car 4 reports the thermal imager has stopped working.
7:58PM	Car 3 signals for all companies to evacuate Emergency evacuation Emergency evacuation is the immediate and rapid movement of people away from the threat or actual occurrence of a hazard. Examples range from the small scale evacuation of a building due to a bomb threat or fire to the large scale evacuation of a district because of a flood, bombardment or approaching hurricane.... the building Building In architecture, construction, engineering and Real estate developer the word building may refer to one of the following:# Any man-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy, or... .

The Worcester 6

Rank	Name	Age	Hometown	Company
Firefighter	Paul Brotherton	41	Auburn, MA	Rescue 1
Firefighter	Jeremiah Lucey	38	Leicester, MA	Rescue 1
Lieutenant	Thomas Spencer	42	Worcester, MA	Ladder 2
Firefighter	Timothy Jackson	51	Hopedale, MA	Ladder 2
Firefighter	James Lyons	34	Worcester, MA	Engine 3
Firefighter	Joseph McGuirk	38	Worcester, MA	Engine 3

Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire

Timeline

The Worcester 6

See also

External links