Fire report draft released

Firefighters who battled the Sofa Super Store blaze lacked enough water and proper equipment to effectively do their jobs, and were undermined by a series of tactical errors that allowed the fire to spiral into an inferno that killed nine men, according to a draft federal report the city released Thursday.

The 54-page document from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health describes a dire scene with moments of anguish, chaos, courage and heroism as firefighters struggled to control the fire and find the men who perished in the flames.

Along the way, crews violated a cardinal rule of firefighting: pour on enough water to gain the upper hand on a blaze and protect firefighters.

Water problems defined what happened that fatal night, the report reveals.

"Adequate water supply for the size of the structure and fuel loads inside was never established and adequate hose lines capable of attacking the fire with adequate fire streams were not deployed," the report says. "Water supply was a critical factor in the sequence of events leading up to the nine fatalities."

Among the report's key findings:

-- The fire came close to claiming the lives of at least six other firefighters.

-- The first firefighters inside had to wait nearly 15 minutes until other

firefighters got them water from a hydrant. They instead fought the blaze with a limited supply of water aboard their truck.

-- The department relied on water hoses that were too small.

-- Firefighters inside the store noticed the roof trusses in the main showroom "glowing red from the intense heat." For years, federal reports have warned firefighters that truss-supported roofs exposed to extreme heat can collapse within minutes.

-- One of the first fire crews stopped to hook up to a fire hydrant that had been removed in 2004 after it was damaged in a traffic accident.

-- Fire Chief Rusty Thomas initially refused a neighboring department's offer of larger hoses and more modern equipment.

-- One of the hoses carried by firefighters standing at the face of the fire went limp and dry.

-- Several of the firefighters reported running out of air in their tanks. The city has since purchased airpacks that provide firefighters with larger oxygen supplies.

Cascading problems

Lack of water wasn't the only problem that night. The report lists many other significant issues that contributed to what happened.

-- The sprawling sofa store did not meet city codes, lacked sprinklers and routinely stored trash and broken furniture near its loading dock, where investigators have said the fire originated. The fire department's "pre-plan" for the store did not note any unusual hazards.

-- The crew of one fire engine that was designated as rescue crew was ordered into the fight instead.

-- Investigators discovered 28 one-gallon cans of extremely flammable solvents inside the loading dock, which the report says may have fueled a vapor fire. "The flames appeared to float in the air and burned floor to ceiling. The water didn't appear to have any effect on the fire so the crew started to retreat."

--Firefighters from different departments couldn't communicate at the fire because they used different radio dispatch systems.

-- After lost firefighters began calling for help over the radio, Thomas ordered the front windows of the store broken out to improve visibility inside. "The firefighters noted that air rushed inside the showroom after the windows were knocked out." Within a minute, turbulent dark, smoke was seen rolling from the windows, and the conditions deteriorated quickly.

Firefighters also pulled at least two small red booster lines into the store to fight the fire. These small, 1-inch hoses are intended for nuisance trash fires and most experts say they should never be used in any type of structure fire, especially one the size of the sofa store.

One of the booster lines advanced into the fire proved useless against the flames and caused firefighters to retreat, the report says. "The booster line did not have any effect on the fire so they backed the line out."

Thomas has denied that his firefighters used booster lines in the early stage of the fire inside the store. "I don't want nobody to think that the Charleston Fire Department put boosters on the Sofa Super Store to put fire out at the start of the fire," Thomas told The Post and Courier in an earlier interview. "We did not."

Melted uniforms

Investigators also found evidence that the polyester work uniforms worn by the firefighters who perished melted under high heat after their outer protective gear degraded. After the newspaper first reported the dangers of the department's polyester uniforms in the wake of the fire, the city immediately ordered them replaced.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley released the NIOSH report to the newspaper after notifying firefighters and the families of the nine men who died in the June 18 blaze.

"It is very important that everyone be aware even of this draft document so that this process is public and transparent."

NIOSH, a division of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducts investigations of firefighter line-of-duty deaths to formulate recommendations for preventing future deaths and injuries. The program does not find fault or place blame on fire departments, and its reports tend to be technical in nature in an effort to provide constructive lessons for those in the fire service.

The draft report released Thursday does not include a cause of the fire. That's still under investigation by federal authorities.

The final report from NIOSH is not expected for another three to four months, and Riley had considered delaying a report from a city-appointed panel until the federal report was complete. The mayor reversed course this week and announced that the independent panel's report would be released May 15.

NIOSH surprised everyone by sending out the draft of its report that arrived Thursday afternoon. The local firefighters union also received a copy of the report, said union president Roger Yow.

Yow said the union did not intend to release the report because it was accompanied by a letter from NIOSH noting that the report is only a draft for review purposes and is not intended for public release. But Yow said he spoke with Riley and understood the mayor's reasons for wanting the report released.

Riley said he considered the report to be in the public domain once it was mailed out.

Both the city, the union and the families of the fallen will now have the opportunity to comment on the report before it is finalized. The final version will include a list of recommendations and provide more context about how the actions of firefighters meshed with national best practices and guidelines.