CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Charleston County coroner’s office on Tuesday identified the nine firefighters killed in the worst single incident to claim U.S. firefighters’ lives since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The firefighters were trapped and killed Monday night after the roof collapsed in a fire at a Sofa Super Store in Charleston.

“We’ve lost over 100 years of service,” said Charleston Fire Chief Rusty Thomas at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. “I lost nine of my best friends.”

Thomas has been fire chief for 20 years and a firefighter with the department since he was 18, years old, said Charleston Mayor Joe Riley.

Officials identified the victims as Capt. William “Billy” Hutchinson, 48; Capt. Mike Benke, 49; Capt. Louis Mulkey, 34; Mark Kelsey, 40; Bradford “Brad” Baity, 37; Michael French, 27; James “Earl” Drayton, 56; Brandon Thompson, 27; and Melven Champaign, 46.

Tuesday, Thomas’ face showed the toll the tumultuous hours since the fire had taken. He wore a black band over his fire badge.

“Just like 9-11, we will never forget these nine firefighters who lost their lives last night,” he said.

At least seven other firefighters initially trapped were able to get out of the building, he said.

Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten said she did not have an official cause of death for the firefighters because autopsies were not yet complete.

The firefighters’ bodies were found throughout the warehouse, Thomas said, but he did not give precise locations or their proximity to each other. He said it was too early to give a sequence of events leading up to the deaths.

The building did not have a sprinkler system, which would “probably have slowed the fire down,” Thomas said.

Several windows at the front of the store blew out, but Thomas said he didn’t know if that was caused by backdraft, an explosive phenomenon caused by the sudden introduction of oxygen to a fire, or some other factor.

The fire department received an unconfirmed call Monday night that someone was inside the building.

Firefighters did rescue one person, believed to be an employee of Sofa Super Store, but Thomas said he didn’t have any more details.

Charleston County Emergency Services director Don Lundy said EMS workers knew “some people were in trouble,” after learning that there were missing firefighters.

Riley said the story has touched hearts across the country because people understand respect the sacrifices firefighters make for citizens.

“This time yesterday they were firefighters,” Riley said. “This time today, they are heroic, historic figures.” President Bush issued a statement sending condolences to the families of the fallen firefighters.

“These firefighters were true heroes who demonstrated great skill and courage,” the president said in a statement. “Their unwavering commitment to their neighbors and to the city of Charleston is an inspiration to all Americans.”

Columbia Fire Chief Bradley Anderson said firefighters from around the state are ready to mobilize in Charleston, but that the Charleston firefighters don’t want to leave their posts.

The National Fire Protection Association said the Charleston fire was the worst single incident to claim firefighters’ lives since the Sept. 11 attacks, which killed 340 firefighters, two paramedics and a chaplain. It was the deadliest fire in South Carolina since a 1979 blaze killed 11 people in the Lancaster County jail.

Lt. Peter Rogers with the Awendaw Fire Department worked at the scene of the fire doing everything from providing water and shelter to fellow firefighters to manning water lines. Rogers responded as part of Charleston County’s Rescue Squad.

“It was intense – a lot of firefighters were working desperately to save their own,” Rogers said.

When he arrived at 7:45 p.m. Monday he said there were easily 100 firefighters on scene, but that number had tripled by the time he left at 4:30 a.m.

Although the fire had been out for several hours, the faint smell of smoke was still in the air.

Rogers said fuel load, in this case materials like the furniture in the warehouse, may have contributed to the roof’s collapsing and trapping the firefighters.

Two employees in the building were rescued from the blaze, which broke out at about 7 p.m. Monday in the Sofa Super Store and warehouse, Riley said. Firefighters punched a hole through a wall of the warehouse to reach them.

Firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers saluted as the bodies were carried from the warehouse during the night.

“To lose nine is just a tragedy of immense proportions,” Riley said. “To lose nine is just unbelievable.”

The cause of the fire was under investigation, but Riley said arson was not suspected. He said the blaze apparently started in a storage area. He was unsure whether there were sprinklers in the building.

Witnesses said the store’s roof collapsed, throwing debris over about two-dozen rescue workers. Onlookers were hit with flying ash.

“It was like a 30-foot tornado of flames,” said Mark Hilton, who was struck in his eye.


Firefighter Eric Glover told CNN that he was at a golf tournament to benefit the family of a firefighter who had recently died when he heard the call on the radio. By the time he arrived, he said, the roof had already collapsed.

“It all happened pretty fast. They didn’t have a chance,” Glover said.

Firefighters went to a nearby car dealership asking for towels, said salesman Daniel Shahid.

“The next thing you know, we were carrying hoses, directing traffic, everybody from the dealership,” he said. Shahid said he saw firefighters rescue four people from the building.

“They were struggling. They were covered in black soot. They looked scared out of their minds,” Shahid said. He later told CNN the roof collapsed too quickly for anyone to escape.

“It came from nowhere,” he said. “It was a standing structure and five seconds later it was on the ground.” Riley called the firefighters heroes.

“This is a profession that we must never take for granted,” the mayor said. “There’s a fire raging and they go toward it.”

On Tuesday morning, flowers were left on the sidewalk in front of the wreckage of the one-story furniture store and its adjacent, slightly taller warehouse, both of which continued to smolder.

The buildings are located on what residents here refer to as the “auto mile,” a commercial strip of car dealers, body shops and stereo installers.