Firefighters and families gathered Sunday to remember the nine Charleston firefighters who died at the Sofa Super Store.
The memorial service was held at the of the June 18, 2007 fire, which is now the home to the Charleston 9 memorial, according to CountOn2.com.
Captains Mike Benke, William "Billy" Hutchinson and Louis Mulkey, Engineers, Bradford "Brad" Baity, Michael French and Mark Kelsey, and Firefighters Melvin Champaign, James "Earl" Drayton, Brandon Thompson died battling the fire and searching for workers.
"I know that the pain doesn’t go away, but it’s my hope that for the families of our nine firefighters, but also, for everyone affected by this tragedy that that perspective does shift to something happy, something pleasant, more often than when you go to the pain,” Charleston Fire Chief Dan Curia said.
Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said the city focused on new training and policies following the fire, and boasted the city's investment in equipment and the firefighters.
“Improved training protocols and programs and strengthened coordination between our fire department and other emergency response agencies," Tecklenburg said.
