Worcester remembers 6 firefighters killed in warehouse blaze 16 years ago
Sixteen years ago, a group of firefighters who have become known as the “Worcester Six’’ died while battling the flames that overtook the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co building.
On Thursday, the Worcester Fire Department will remember the six men with a 6 p.m. gathering at the Franklin Street fire station, where a bell will sound at 6:13 p.m., the time that the call for the fire came in on Dec. 3, 1999, The Worcester Telegram reported. The ceremony will honor Lt. Thomas Spencer, 42; Lt. Timothy Jackson Sr., 51; Lt. James Lyons III, 34; Jeremiah Lucey, 38; Paul Brotherton, 41; and Joseph McGuirk, 38; all of whom died at the scene.
Firefighters observe a moment of silence one week after the fatal warehouse fire.Suzanne Kreiter / The Boston Globe
On that Friday evening 16 years ago, firefighters responded to the alarm to find a blaze they believed came from two separate fires engulfing the building, according to multiple Boston Globe stories from that year.
Twenty-seven firefighters entered the abandoned building to search for two homeless people who they believed were inside. As the flames became more difficult to tame, most retreated, but two firefighters were separated from the group and trapped inside, according to the Globe.
“In two to three seconds, you couldn’t see six inches in front of your face,’’ Worcester District Chief Michael McNamee told the Globe in 1999. He led the first group of firefighters into the building that evening.
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A rescue team of four firefighters entered the warehouse using a safety line and thermal-imaging cameras to detect body heat through the smoke, the Globe reported. None of them made it out of the building.
The warehouse had previously served as a homeless shelter and was slated to play home to a biotech company, but had been vacant for almost 10 years, catching fire once the year before it was decimated by the 1999 blaze, according to the Globe. Officials credited the lack of windows, cork insulation, and sprawling open spaces as catalysts that allowed the fire to spread through the “maze-like structure.’’
Six hours after the first alarm sounded, about 300 firefighters from Worcester and neighboring towns continued to fight the blaze, the Globe reported. In the days that followed, teams recovered the bodies of the six missing men from the wreckage.
Firefighters walk away from a pile of debris.
“It’s horrible. We’re all in total disbelief. Total numbness’’ a firefighter who had served with the department for 27 years told the Globe at the scene. “They were all our friends. All family people.’’
Days after the fire, authorities tracked down the two homeless people who firefighters believed were in the building at the time. Tom Levesque, 37, and Julie Barnes, 19, were arrested on involuntary manslaughter charges after officials realized they had knocked a candle over and left the burning building without calling authorities, allowing the flames to rage for more than an hour before firefighters came to the scene, the Globe reported.
The cases against them remained open for 10 years through the dismissal of charges and appeals. In 2010, all charges against them were dismissed, and they received probation, the Telegram reported.
Firefighters search for the remains of the six missing firefighters.
Following the fire, the community rallied around increasing spending for the department, leading to the allocation of funds that allowed them to purchase better equipment, according to the Globe. Many also expressed sympathy for the homeless couple who had knocked over the candle that ignited the blaze, calling for more resources for the homeless rather than placing blame on them.
“We didn’t draw the line whether people were homeless or had the largest bank accounts in the world,’’ Worcester Fire Chief Dennis Budd told the Globe at the time. “When a human life is involved, we don’t put a price on it.’’
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