Relatives of 2 victims meet with SLED team

Relatives of two firefighters killed in the 2007 Sofa Super Store fire met with state agents Friday to push for a full investigation into the actions of commanders who trained and led the nine men who died in the inferno.

Family members of captains Louis Mulkey and William Hutchinson met for about two hours with a team of five State Law Enforcement Division agents in Columbia. The families were accompanied by present and former firefighters from Charleston and St. Andrews Public Service District, which helped battle the June 18, 2007, blaze.

Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson recently asked SLED to review records from the fire after the group raised concerns about the actions of fire commanders -- actions they believe constitute criminal negligence. They gave Wilson eight binders of materials they say prove that commanders exposed fire crews to unnecessary and deadly risks with insufficient training and leadership.

Randy Hutchinson, who lost his brother in the fire, said the group reiterated its concerns to SLED and came away with the feeling that agents are taking the matter seriously.

"They realized we had some real serious concerns that need to be checked out," he said. "They're definitely going to look into this a lot harder. They told us they would do the right thing."

Hutchinson, his mother and Mulkey's parents want SLED to conduct an independent inquiry into the actions of former Fire Chief Rusty Thomas and others. Charleston police already have conducted an 18-month investigation into the blaze and turned over their results to Wilson. But Hutchinson and the others contend that Charleston police have an inherent conflict of interest in the matter and they have little faith that police investigators even considered negligence by officials at their sister agency.

There is far from unanimous support among the families to pursue this course of action. The widows of Hutchinson and Mulkey, for example, are concentrating their efforts on civil suits against the store and its owners, alleging negligence that led to the deaths of their loved ones. They have not joined in the call for SLED to go after Thomas and others in command that night.

Previous reports have faulted the actions of commanders. A May 2008 report by a city-appointed panel of fire experts cited command failures as a predominant factor in the Fire Department's unstructured and uncoordinated response to the blaze, which exposed firefighters to "excessive and avoidable risks." The reports, however, haven't touched on whether those actions rose to the level of criminality.

Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen has said he doesn't mind if SLED takes another look at the case, though he disagrees that his department had a conflict of interest in the investigation.

Sandra Senn, an attorney who represents the city and Thomas, has said the fire already has been investigated by numerous agencies, including SLED, and none has offered evidence suggesting criminal culpability on the part of fire ground commanders.

Retired Charleston Fire Capt. Ricky Koger, who attended Friday's meeting, said several potential witnesses, including himself, have never been interviewed by investigators. Hearing that SLED is willing to listen to those concerns is welcome news, he said. "I don't think we could have asked for anything more," he said.