South Carolina honors victims of worst firefighter disaster since 9/11
Fire swept through a furniture warehouse, collapsing its roof and killing nine firefighters, including two African-American men, inside.
The men ranged in age from 27 to 56 and together had 131 years of experience with the Charleston Fire Department, a department with only 237 firefighters in 19 companies located throughout the city of about 106,000.
At 56, James "Earl" Drayton, known around the fire station as "Squirrel," was the oldest of the group. With 32 years on the job, he could have been enjoying retirement.
The other brother was Firefighter Melven Champaign, 46, whose length of service was 2.5 years. Champaign was nicknamed "Pimp Daddy" because of his flashy clothes. But the name belied his love of Bible study.Two employees in the building were rescued from the blaze, which broke out at about 7 p.m. Monday June 18 in the Sofa Super Store and warehouse.
It was the worst single incident to claim firefighters’ lives since the Sept. 11 attacks, which killed 340 firefighters, two paramedics and a chaplain.
Car dealership salesman 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,” he 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.”Herb Goldstein, who had owned the store for 15 years, said in a statement there were no words to express his sorrow.
“All of us at Sofa Super Store are devastated and heartbroken by this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the heroic firefighters who lost their lives,” he said.
While negative press and Black men seem to go hand in hand, it's nice to know that we have brothers who our children can still look up to. The remaining seven warriors are listed below:
Engineer Bradford "Brad" Baity, Age: 37, Length of service: 9 years, Capt. Mike Benke, Age: 49, Length of service: 29 years, Assistant engineer Michael French, Age: 27, Length of service: 1.5 years, Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson, Age: 48, Length of service: 30 years, Engineer Mark Kelsey, Age: 40, Length of service: 12.5 years, AP Capt. Louis Mulkey, Age: 34, Length of service: 11.5 years, Firefighter Brandon Thompson, Age: 27, Length of service: 4 yearsOur thoughts and deepest prayers go out to the family and community out in Charleston.
MSNBC