Difficult questions mount in wake of fatal South Carolina fire

CHARLESTON, S.C. — How did a trash fire in an outdoor bin spread to a furniture store and explode into an inferno that killed nine firefighters? And why were up to 16 firefighters inside the place Monday night 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 event since the Sept. 11 attacks.

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

The assistant fire chief who made the call that the building was safe to enter said firefighters initially thought the trash fire outside had not spread inside the store, but he said Wednesday night he suspects it was already burning in the ceiling when they arrived.

"We went, with the training we have, knowing we could put the fire out and it just went awry," Assistant Fire Chief Larry Garvin said. "Things did not happen like they normally happen."

Garvin said the fire and smoke seemed to intensify within minutes, leading him to suspect the fire was burning in the ceiling. He said he suspects the firefighters who died got lost inside the building in thick smoke. He said their bodies were found separated from their fire hoses, their lifelines to getting back outside.

Mike Parrotta, president of the South Carolina Professional Fire Fighters Association, said South Carolina is the only state that allows fire officials to sidestep a federal regulation requiring that for every employee doing hazardous work inside a building, one must be outside.

Parrotta said he did not know whether that played a role Monday night, but the issue needs to be raised.

"We in the fire profession are asking questions: How did this tragedy happen to these nine people?" said Parrotta, a retired Myrtle Beach firefighter. "After Friday, after the memorial services and stuff, hopefully they will go to task and get all the tough questions answered."

The cause of the fire remains 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.

Dozens of people watched as the bodies were taken in a procession of hearses that left the coroner's office for various funeral homes. Each was escorted by police and the firetrucks on which they served.

Memorials to the nine men were set up in front of fire stations and at the gutted store.

The firefighters went into the building after an employee in the store, working in a repair shop off the warehouse, called 911 on a cellphone after he couldn't find his way out past smoke and flames. The employee, Jonathan Tyrrell, was rescued.

Tyrrell, 28, said Wednesday he found a hammer and worked feverishly in an attempt to smash a fan from its mounting in an outside wall to get outside. He said he kept hammering away in the hope firefighters would hear him.

"The smoke was getting thicker and thicker. I basically laid on the floor hitting cabinets and walls and anything I could reach. A few minutes later I heard the firemen yelling and I knew exactly where they were," he said.

A firefighter chopped through the metal siding and "I could feel the fresh air just coming.

"If it wasn't for God and it wasn't for the firefighters, coming to get me though the wall, I wouldn't have made it."