Beyond the Flames

On June 18, 2007, at approximately 7:07 p.m., units from the Charleston, S.C. Fire Department were dispatched to a Sofa Super Store located at 1807 Savannah Highway in the West Ashley section of town for a fire in the rear of the building. The store consisted of a 42,000 square-foot showroom with an additional 17,000 square-foot of storage for merchandise, which included a wide range of furniture such as beds, living room furnishings, and cabinets. The store was open at the time of the fire, with dozens of employees and customers inside.
A fire ignited in the covered loading dock area of the building, which connected the warehouse to the showroom, in a pile of trash which workers were known to take smoke breaks near. When the first Charleston F.D. crews arrived on location only three minutes after their initial dispatch, they reported a small rubble fire near the exterior wall of the loading dock.
There was minimal smoke reported in the showroom area of the building, and firefighters began evacuating the building’s occupants for precautionary measures. Additional crews advanced hoses to the rear of the building where the loading dock was located to attack the fire.
At 7:13 p.m., just three minutes after arriving on location, a firefighter checking for extension of the fire from the exterior trash fire to the inside of the building opened a door from the showroom that leads to the loading dock. The force of the rubbish fire was too strong for the firefighter to close the door, and the sudden burst of fresh oxygen fueled the fire, allowing it to enter the showroom.
The fire quickly traveled throughout, easily igniting the highly flammable objects on display. Additional alarms were requested by the incident commander, bringing in crews from neighboring fire departments in addition to more Charleston firefighters. Several crews of firefighters entered the showroom to search for any employees and customers who had not been evacuated.
At approximately 7:26 p.m., a 911 call was received from an employee who was trapped in the warehouse part of the building due to the raging fire. Firefighters breeched a wall in the warehouse and rescued the trapped worker.
Meanwhile, crews continued to attack the fire and search for trapped occupants in the showroom area. Officers within the building reported the conditions to be deteriorating quickly.
At 7:32 p.m., with 16 firefighters inside the showroom, the first mayday was dispatched by a firefighter. A mayday is an emergency distress call used over the radio when a firefighter is in an emergency situation, unable to escape the building in his current location. Through a series of frantic radio traffic, multiple maydays are transmitted, and exterior rescue crews enter the warehouse to rescue the downed firefighters.
Soon thereafter, Charleston F.D. Chief Rusty Thomas noticed that conditions were rapidly deteriorating, and ordered the immediate evacuation of all firefighters from the building. At approximately 7:42 p.m., a “flashover” occurred in the building. A flashover occurs when the fire becomes so hot that virtually all of the combustible materials in a given space ignite at the same instant.
At 7:45 p.m., the roof of the showroom collapsed into the building, ending the final rescue attempts by firefighters for the initial mayday. Firefighters continued to battle the blaze for nearly two hours before finally bringing it under control.
At 10:01 p.m., the remains of two firefighters were found near the center of the building – Engineer Brad Baity, age 37, and Firefighter James Drayton, age 56.
At a news conference held around 10:34 p.m., Charleston Mayor Joe Riley announced the discovery of the two deceased firefighters, as well as the fact that at least five more firefighters remained unaccounted for. Approximately 15 minutes after the press conference, the bodies of Firefighter Melvin Champaign, age 46, and Engineer Michael French, age 27, were located less than 30 feet from the location of the first bodies. Another 15 minutes later, three bodies were found at the rear of the showroom – Captain Mike Benke, age 49, Captain William Hutchinson, age 48, and Acting Captain Mark Kelsey, age 40.
Crews continued to sift through the remains and douse hotspots for several hours, and recovery searches continued for the missing firefighters. At approximately 4 a.m. June 19, over nine hours after the initial mayday was transmitted, the bodies of Captain Louis Mulkey, age 34, and Firefighter Brandon Thompson, age 27, were located in the rear corner of the showroom.
At the conclusion of the event, nine Charleston firefighters died in the line of duty, and at least nine other firefighters barely escaped serious injury, according to the report by the NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program.
A series of changes were made following the fatal fire, including the implementing of mandatory fire sprinklers in commercial buildings in numerous states across the nation.
The incident continues to be a lasting reminder of risks and sacrifices firefighters make every day, and shows how a seemingly minor incident can turn tragic. May we never forget all the men and women who have given their lives to protect others.