SC Blaze Kills 9 Firefighters

Roof of Charleston furniture store collapses

By Marie Morris, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 19, 2007 8:17 AM CDT

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SC Blaze Kills 9 Firefighters — This image made from TV shows the scene of a fire that swept through a furniture warehouse collapsing the building's roof and claiming the lives of nine firefighters in a disaster the mayor described, Tuesday June 19, 2007 in Charleston, S.C. as "difficult to fathom or quantify." (AP Photo/WCSC via... (Associated Press)

Nine firefighters died last night when the roof of a burning furniture store in Charleston, SC, collapsed in what one onlooker described as a "30-foot tornado of flames." The mayor said no city firefighter had died on the job in his 30 years in office, and to "lose nine is just unbelievable."

Fire broke out at about 7 p.m., apparently in a storage area. The mayor said arson is not suspected, and CNN reported that the building had no sprinkler system. Rescue workers removed the bodies of the firefighters throughout the night. Said one firefighter who arrived on the scene after the sudden collapse: "They didn't have a chance." (More Charleston stories.)

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