1-29-11 Charleston Firefighter Memorial

In the Charleston, there is a small firefighter memorial park, honoring those firefighters who have died in the line of duty. I noticed that in 2007, nine firefighters from differing stations lost their lives. Upon further digging on the internet, I discovered the reason. On June 18, 2007, there was a very large fire in a furniture store, the roof collapsed, covering debris over about two-dozen rescue workers. Nine of those workers, firefighters, lost their lives. The fire was investigated and three days later..."The store had been converted from a 1960's era grocery store with a metal truss roof system. The fire and smoke spread rapidly and the firefighters became lost and separated from their hoses. With air in air-packs running out, they could not find their way out. They died from smoke inhalation."