I recently was privileged to speak with a few of the firefighters who were involved in the sofa store fire in Charleston, SC, that occurred on June 18 and where nine firefighters died. When I first heard about the fire, it brought to mind something that happened three years earlier, when I was invited to attend the Al Ronaldson Golf Outing in Myrtle Beach, SC, named in honor of a friend of mine, an FDNY Rescue 3 firefighter who died in the line of duty. When I arrived in town, Charleston Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert O'Donald picked me up from the airport. He and at least five other Charleston firefighters would be doing all the cooking after the final day of golf for the entire nationwide contingent. Some people wanted the chief to play a practical joke on me, but he said that he had met me several years earlier in the Bronx and wouldn't participate.
I met the rest of the Charleston crew and spent most of the next three days with them — driving, shopping and watching them cook. One of the firefighters was Louis Mulkey. Everyone called him "Louis." Most of the people I know who are named Louis are nicknamed "Louie" or "Lou," but this firefighter was "Louis." The morning after the fatal fire, I telephoned one of the organizers of the golf tournament. He told me that Louis — now a captain — was one of the nine firefighters killed. Firefighter Bill Kilcoyne and his brother were part of the cooking crew that I was with three years ago. Here it is three years later and I was able to interview Bill — "the last man out." His interview recalling the conditions inside the store can be found on page 58. As I travel around the country, I find it ironic that I meet people and visit places that come to life and make big headlines sometime later.
The interviews I conducted in Charleston provide a little glimpse into what happened during the incident. A task force was formed and several investigations are underway. When the facts are complete, they will be detailed for all to see. That is the point when we can all take a look and see what every one of us has to do to improve our fire departments, our organizations and our working environments. I am no angel, nor am I perfect in any way. There are many fire departments nationwide that run smoothly. There may be some that need to take a look at themselves, change for the better and move forward. That's easier said than done. Fire department procedures, training and guidelines take a lot of work to formulate and review. It takes teamwork and no one person can do it all.
We discuss line-of-duty deaths almost every month. Recently, there have been many. Traveling to a place like Charleston shows how tough such a tragedy can be — on the families, the firefighters, the city and the citizens. Nobody wins. We cover these types of incidents all the time. Thankfully, only a small portion of the fire service sees the emotional drain and suffering that goes along with a line-of-duty death. For them, it is a once-in-a-career event. We talk about it each and every day. We may not be able to prevent every occurrence, but we sure are going to do our best to educate everyone we can reach.
Charleston, steeped in tradition, is not the exception to the rule. There are many Charlestons waiting to happen. It is up to you to take the time to plan your future. There are many lives at stake that ultimately will benefit.
The Phase 1 Report from the City of Charleston Post Incident Assessment and Review Team was released on Oct. 16, 2007, just before we went to press. For a copy of the report, see www.firehouse.com/charleston.
