A roaring fire swept through a furniture warehouse in Charleston, South Carolina, last night, leaving nine CFD firefighters dead.
From Breitbart:
"This is a profession that we must never take for granted," the mayor said. "There's a fire raging and they go toward it."
Gov. Mark Sanford ordered state flags lowered to half staff. "These are truly some of South Carolina's bravest, who in this case made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty," he said.
Store owner Herb Goldstein said in a statement there were no words to express his sorrow.
"All of us at Sofa Super Store are devastated and heartbroken by this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the heroic firefighters who lost their lives," he said.
The nine firefighters have been identified as:
- Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson, 48
- Capt. Mike Benke, 49
- Capt. Louis Mulkey, 34
- Engineer Mark Kelsey, 40
- Engineer Bradford "Brad" Baity, 37
- Assistant Engineer Michael French, 27
- James "Earl" Drayton, 56
- Brandon Thompson, 27
- Melven Champaign, 46
Godspeed.
A fund has been established to help the families.
City of Charleston Fireman’s Fund P.O. Box 304 Charleston, SC 29402
This is just heartbreaking.
Farewell and Walk with God - our brave firefighters.
Posted by: Flag Gazer | June 20, 2007 at 01:54 AM
I heard this story this morning and I was really very upset over it....I send my payers to their loved ones.
God Bless them
Posted by: DD2 | June 20, 2007 at 08:15 AM
Very sad. We had four killed in an arson fire back in 1995 - it is heartbreaking.
Posted by: Kelly | June 21, 2007 at 09:18 AM