Remembering the Worcester Six: Nine Years Later

December 3, 2008 – Nine years ago today, six members of Worcester, MA Local 1009 –Paul Brotherton, Tim Jackson, Jerry Lucey, Jay Lyons, Joe McGuirk and Tom Spencer – died responding to the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire.

“No December 3 will ever pass without fire fighters remembering what happened on that day in 1999,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “We will always remember their dedication to duty and the sacrifice they made.”

“The Worcester Six fought valiantly that day doing what they do best – protecting lives and property,” says IAFF 3rd District Vice President Mike Mullane. “We must never forget that. No matter how many years go by, we must always keep the families of the fallen in our thoughts and prayers.”

On December 3, 2008, at 5:00 p.m., Massachusetts fire fighters will march from Union Station, the city’s transportation hub, to the new Franklin Street station (located at the former site of the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse) to dedicate a Remembrance Wall.

The granite wall will stand 6 feet high and 12 feet wide. Carved into the granite will be an image of the fallen six. In front of the wall will be a pedestal with a folded bronze coat and helmet sitting on top. Behind the pedestal will be a bronze sculpture of a fire fighter kneeling, giving reverence to his fallen brothers.

“This wall will hold a lot of meaning for us,” says Frank Raffa, president of Local 1009. “Not only will it commemorate our brothers, but it was paid for entirely by fire fighters.” For the first six years following the fire, Worcester fire fighters hosted an annual fire safety seminar for U.S. and Canadian fire fighters. The seminar’s registration dues funded the wall’s construction.

The Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire began on December 3, 1999, after two homeless people turned over a candle. As the blaze grew to five-alarm status, Worcester and neighboring fire companies were called to respond.

While fire fighters worked to control the blaze, reports came in that some homeless people might be trapped inside. Complicating their efforts was the building’s structure; it was windowless and the walls were thick because the building was originally designed to maintain cold temperatures. But, on the day of the fire, the building held in the heat and smoke.

Because of the heavy smoke, visibility was near zero. Fire fighters inside the warehouse made repeated mayday calls and activated their audible location alarms. However, Brotherton, Jackson, Lucey, Lyons, McGuirk and Spencer perished. It took eight days to recover them.

After the fire investigation was complete, the unburned portion of the building was demolished and the lot left vacant. After Worcester’s former central fire station was usurped for development purposes, there was a political movement to build the replacement central fire station on the warehouse lot.

“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Local 1009 Vice President Donald Courtney says of the decision to build there. The new station – dubbed the Franklin Street station – was dedicated and became fully operational in mid-November 2008.

Meanwhile, plans for a formal Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial are in the works. The site of the memorial and park is next to Worcester Fire Headquarters. Fire fighters hope to open the park no later than 2012.

Separate from the memorials, fire fighters continue to be inspired by the Worcester Six. Two of Brotherton’s sons are in the fire department, and Spencer’s son will be in the next recruit class.