10 Years Later, IAFF Remembers Fatal Worcester Cold Storage Fire

December 3, 2009 – On the 10th Anniversary of the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire, which claimed the lives of six Worcester 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 served every day on the job with dedication and professionalism and will not be forgotten.”

IAFF 3rd District Vice President Mike Mullane says, “We must also remember the families of the fallen. Let us keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”

Worcester Local 1009, the Worcester Fire Department and the City of Worcester is holding a memorial and remembrance event. Fire fighters will march to the Franklin Street fire station, built on the former location of the cold storage warehouse. Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts President Bob McCarthy expects at least 3,000 to attend the tribute. Click here for more information.

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.

Local 1009 President Ronald Armstrong, a 33-year veteran fire fighter, was serving as PFFM 7th District Vice President at the time. “I was on duty that night and was called to the union office while our local president, Frank Raffa, went to the scene. The sense of loss was powerful. It was hard for everyone,” he says.

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.

Click here for a transcript of Kennedy's remarks.

Following the funerals, Steve MacDonald, then a member of the Boston, MA Local 718 Executive Board who was on the ground from the start, wrote about the fire and memorial service, documenting the tragedy and the story of the IAFF response and the part of this union in taking care of its members and their families. Click here to read the story.

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.