Published Sunday, December 3, 2023

WORCESTER, MA COLD STORAGE FIRE

Photo Credit: ATF Boston

INCIDENT SUMMARY

On December 3, 1999, a fire broke out in a 93-year-old building in the 200 block of Franklin Street in the former Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Company.

Photo Credit: NIOSH

ABOUT FIRE BUILDING

The fire building was built in 1905 and was listed as Building Alpha.

In 1912, another building was constructed on the western side of Building A and would become known as Building Bravo. It was located on Building Alpha’s western side (Side Delta).

The entire building was six stories high from the ground up with a total of 94,176 square feet and a full basement.

Photo Credit: NIOSH

The exterior walls were made of brick with 18 inches of thickness. The Interior walls were covered with six to eight inches of asphalt-impregnated cork (depending on the floor level), four inches of polystyrene and/or foam glass, and a thin layer of glass board.

The floor was wooden except for flooring in the basement, first and second floors were concrete.

The joists are made out of heavy timbers.

The fire building was said to have no windows above the ground floor and no fire detection or suppression systems. The interior of the building was said to be a maze-like cold storage and warehouse building with six floors.

The Fire Building is now home to the Franklin Street Fire Station. It officially opened on November 19, 2008, and houses Engine 6, Ladder 1, and Rescue 1. Many of the Worcester 6 Family were in attendance during the Open Ceremony. – City of Worcester

SEARCH AND RESCUE

According to the NIOSH fire investigative report, it sounds like during their primary search (using today’s language), the first two firefighters (Victims 1 and 2) who were searching the building for the homeless people, became lost (unknown time). A mayday was sounded at 1947 hours. A PAR (personnel accountability report) was immediately put into effect. The Interior Command confirmed which firefighters were missing.

First and second-alarm firefighters were assigned to SAR activities to locate the missing firefighters and the two homeless people. During this time, four more firefighters would become lost. Two firefighters (Victims 3 and 4) became disoriented and could not locate their way out of the building.

Photo Description: Archival photo from 1957 showing the block-like Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co building.

Photo Courtesy: Worcester Historical Museum.

One of the firefighters radioed for help getting out of the building as he was running low on air at 1910 hours. He made a second radio call to Command requesting the same type of assistance.

Two additional firefighters (Victims 5 and 6) did not make any type of initial contact with Command or anyone at the scene and were not seen entering the building. According to Central Dispatch transcripts, they may have joined up with Victims 3 and 4 on the fifth floor.

At 1924 hours, the second Incident Command (IC#2) conducted a PAR and found six firefighters were now missing.

FIRE OPERATIONS

A radio transmission from the Engine 8 crew stated they were on the fourth floor and that the structural integrity of the building had been compromised. (1949 hours).

A member of the Fire Investigation Unit (FIU) arrived on the scene at 1952 hours and reported to the Chief that heavy fire just vented through the roof on the Charlie side.

All firefighters were told to abandon the building at 2000 hours including the blasting of a horn with short intervals to alert those who may be inside of the building to evacuate immediately.

Fire operations transitioned from offensive attack and search and rescue to defensive attack with the use of heavy-stream systems.

It was determined that Victims 1 and 5 died as a result of severe thermal injuries and exposure to heat and noxious gases.

Victims 2, 3, 4, and 6 died of inhalation of smoke, soot, and hot gases.

RESOURCES

There were approximately 16 apparatus, 11 engines, three ladders, one rescue, and one aerial scope with 73 firefighters, and two Incident Commanders (IC#1 and IC#2 responded in two separate units).

1815 hours. 1st Alarm Resources.

  • E1 Capt with 3 firefighters
  • E6 LT with 2 firefighters
  • E12 LT with 3 firefighters.
  • E13 with 3 firefighters.
  • L1 Capt with 4 firefighters.
  • L5 with 3 firefighters.
  • R1 LT with 4 firefighters. (2 missing firefighters – Victims 1, 2)
  • Car 3 (IC#1) District Chief with one firefighter.

1819 hours. 2nd Alarm Resources.

  • E2 LT with 4 firefighters.
  • E16 with 3 firefighters.
  • Aerial Scope 2 with 3 firefighters.
  • Car 2 (IC#2) Deputy Chief with one firefighter.

1842 hours. 3rd Alarm Resources.

  • E3 LT with 4 firefighters (Victims 5 and 6).
  • E7 LT with 2 firefighters.
  • L2 LT with 3 firefighters. (Victims 3 and 4).
  • Car 1 Chief (Chief)

1854 hours. 4th Alarm Resources.

  • E8 Capt with 2 firefighters.
  • E15 LT with 3 firefighters.
  • L4 Capt with 2 firefighters.

1929 hours. 5th Alarm Resources.

  • E5 LT with 3 firefighters.
  • E10 LT with 3 firefighters.

SUSPECTED CAUSE

The cause is most likely to be started by two homeless people who were using a candle in the building, which was knocked over. They left and did not report the fire, allowing it to root itself while burning for a good 30-90 minutes before the Fire Department was alerted.

The fire originated on the second floor of a six-story building.

LINE-OF-DUTY-DEATHS

After the fire had been knocked down were firefighters able to go interior inside the building to restart SAR operations ending the incident on December 11, 1999, at 2227 hours, when all six of their firefighters had been recovered.

Under the most dangerous fire conditions, these six brave Firefighters Paul Brotherton, Jeremiah Lucey, Joseph McGuirk, and Lieutenants Timothy Jackson, James Lyons, and Thomas Spencer performed their duties to the best of their abilities during this burning inferno.

Their ages were 34, 38 (2 of them), 41, 42 and 51.

Never Forgotten – The Worcester MA 6

NIOSH MAKES MANY RECOMMENDATIONS

A scathing report by the NIOSH lists many things the Fire Department could have trained for, the standard of procedures (SOPs), and other safety measures in place to protect their members.

That report can be seen here on their site at: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face9947.html

Though there were many recommendations (13 or so) made, there have been some firefighter and citizen deaths related to some of Worcester’s intense fires.

WORCESTER DEADLY FIRE HISTORY

April 3, 1976. A 4th Alarm fire kills five people and injures five more. Cause: Arson.

December 9, 2018. Two firefighters become trapped in a basement fire. One is killed in the line of duty. WCVB. statter911.com/2018/12/09/mayday-radio-traffic-video-from-lodd-of-worcester-ma-firefighter-christopher-roy/

February 2021. A triple-decker fire broke out and two died and one was seriously hurt in the fire. There were 13 residents home at the time of the fire. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/2-dead-1-seriously-hurt-in-worcester-fire/

May 14, 2022. A 4th Alarm fire at a triple-decker (residential) building on Gage Street in Worcester killed four people and injured others. This was an arson fire. No suspect or motive has been determined. They died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. The fire spread to an exposed building causing extensive damage. The roof of the fire building eventually was said to have collapsed. It was investigated by the ATF and the City of Worcester. A female suspect was said to have been arrested and pled not guilty in a court of law.

November 2023. A mom and her young daughter were rescued from a third floor during a fire that broke out in a triple-decker residential building. Eight other people were forced out of their homes. No cause is known at the time of this post. It is currently under investigation. WWLP News. https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/mother-and-daughter-rescued-from-worcester-fire/

SOURCES

NIOSH. This investigation was conducted by Richard W. Braddee, Team Leader; Frank C. Washenitz, Thomas P. Mezzanotte, and Nancy T. Romano, Safety and Occupational Health Specialists; and Theodore Pettit, Senior Fire Fighter Investigator, Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, Division of Safety Research, NIOSH, and Tim R. Merinar, Engineer, and Tom McDowell, Physical Scientist, Respirator Branch, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, NIOSH. Expert review was provided by Francis L. (Frank) Brannigan, Society of Fire Protection Engineers (Fellow); Alan V. Brunacini, Chief, City of Phoenix Fire Department; and Vincent Dunn, Deputy Chief (Ret.), FDNY.

City of Worcester (MA).

Patch Real Estate. Real Estate company blog in Worcester.

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