IAFF Remembers Fatal Worcester Cold Storage Fire

December 3, 2010 -- On the 11th Anniversary of the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire, which claimed the lives of six Worcester, MA Local 1009 fire fighters, the IAFF pays homage to Brothers Paul Brotherton, Jeremiah Lucey, Joseph McGuirk, Timothy Jackson Sr., Thomas Spencer and James Lyons III.

“We will never forget the ultimate sacrifice made by six of our best that dark day,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “They will not be forgotten.”

The 1999 fire started when two homeless people knocked over a candle. As the blaze grew to five-alarm status, Worcester and neighboring fire companies were called to respond. When fire fighters arrived, the homeless people were thought to still be inside.

Complicating their efforts was the building’s structure: it was windowless with thick walls designed to maintain cold temperatures. But, on the day of the fire, the building held in the heat and smoke.

Fire fighters inside the warehouse made repeated mayday calls and activated audible location alarms. However, Brotherton, Jackson, Lucey, Lyons, McGuirk and Spencer perished. It took eight days to recover them.
On December 9, 1999, an estimated 100,000 visiting fire fighters from around the world, along with President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Representative McGovern (D-MA), Governor Paul Cellucci and thousands of mourners participated in a memorial service for the six fallen fire fighters. Kennedy delivered one of the more memorable speeches in fire fighter history. He closed his speech with the Firefighters Prayer/Poem, which is now hanging in every firehouse in Massachusetts.

After the fire investigation was complete, the building was demolished and the lot left vacant. After Worcester’s former central fire station was usurped for development purposes, a new central fire station – dubbed the Franklin Street station – was dedicated and became fully operational in November 2008.