Questions Mount After Deadly Fire 38-Pointy, Tidewater Semibold Yy City and State Officials to Inves

Jun 21, 08:05 AM

Current Headlines: By BRUCE SMITH

By Bruce Smith

The Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C.

How did a trash fire in an outdoor bin manage to spread to a furniture store and explode into a raging inferno that killed nine firefighters? And why were as many as 16 firefighters inside the place when the roof came down?

City and state officials announced plans to investigate as questions mounted Wednesday over the Fire Department's handling of the Sofa Super Store blaze, the nation's deadliest firefighting tragedy since Sept. 11, 2001 .

Among other things, investigators want to know whether fire crews violated safe firefighting procedures and whether they were adequately trained and equipped.

Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said he was confident the department followed proper procedure, but the investigation is necessary.

"Part of the purpose is to look, for us or any fire department in the country, if there are lessons learned in terms of how well things were done or any aspect of it," said Riley, who added the inquiry would include asking whether too many firefighters were in the building Monday night.

Fire officials vehemently defended their actions.

"The captains did exactly what they were trained to do," said Assistant Fire Chief Ronnie Classen. "They didn't do anything they wouldn't have done at any other time. They didn't make a mistake when they first went in there. They did exactly what they were supposed to do, there's no question."

He said the fire captain who made the call to send men into the building saw only smoke.

"When he walked in, he could look around inside and it wasn't that bad," Classen said. But the fire quickly spread - enveloping the men in heat and smoke.

The first firefighters on the scene initially reported that trash was on fire in a bin behind the building, Fire Chief Rusty Thomas said. As for why the fire could not be extinguished before it spread, he said, "I don't know."

Charleston Assistant Fire Chief Larry Garvin told The Post and Courier of Charleston that as firefighters tried to put out the fire in the trash bin, the blaze spread to the building, a door blew open and the flames swept in.

He said firefighters started bringing in hoses, but they didn't stand a chance as the sofa and chair material ignited in the building, a combination showroom and warehouse stacked with mattresses and other furniture five and six high.

One expert, Carl Peterson, director of the public fire protection division at the National Fire Protection Association, said fire creeps into tough-to-detect places, moving through walls and other concealed spaces. Peterson said he did not have enough information to say whether fire officials made any mistakes.

Peterson said there is no standard on the number of firefighters in a structure "as long as the building is safe."

"If fire is blowing out over your head, then it's 15 people too many in the building," he said.

In addition to the city, South Carolina's Labor, Licensing and Regulation Department is investigating how the fire was handled. The department will look into whether fire officials properly trained and equipped the firefighters, and "we'll ask how firefighters performed their jobs," said department spokesman Jim Knight.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by state and federal officials, but arson is not suspected.

The victims died of smoke inhalation and extensive burns, Coroner Rae Wooten said.

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