Sofa store worker saved from fire defends rescuers
'They must have done something right,' man says
By Katy Stech
The Charleston Fire Department's commander at the front of the Sofa Super Store, the one charged at the time with directing firefighters inside the store's huge showroom, left to help free a store worker who was trapped near the flames and choking on the thick, black smoke.
The rescue operation took less than five minutes, but Assistant Fire Chief Larry Garvin returned to chaos.
The Post and Courier
Jonathan Tyrrell, rescued from the Sofa Super Store, discusses the report about the fire.
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The scene inside the store deteriorated into a frantic mess, an investigative report released Thursday shows. Less than a minute after Garvin resumed his post, one firefighter called "Mayday" across the fire radio. Another prayed.
Garvin's decision to leave his command post to help in the rescue and the failure of Chief Rusty Thomas to take overall supervision played a significant role in the tragedy that led to the nine firefighters' deaths, the report says.
Despite that, the rescued furniture repairman, Jonathan Tyrrell, defends Garvin and the firefighters who saved him.
"I don't know about incident command and posts and 'this person was supposed to be here' or 'this person should have been there' — I don't know any of that," he said. "But he wasn't leaving his post to go get a drink. He was going to help somebody."
Thomas' retirement, announced Wednesday, doesn't sit well with Tyrrell either.
"I think it's not right under the circumstances. ... I believe he was forced into retiring, not by city officials, but by everyone who was blaming him. He just got tired of it," he said.
Since last summer, Tyrrell has casually followed news about the fire's cause and aftermath, catching "little stuff" on nightly newscasts.
Occasionally, his friends tell him that his picture reeled across television newscasts as the stations revived old footage for updates.
That fateful night, Tyrrell had just begun his shift at the sofa store. He was putting together a bed frame when he smelled something burning. He looked up and saw small flakes of charred ash drifting into his workshop.
His exits blocked by flame, he dialed 911 on his cell phone. He told the dispatcher about his wife and 5-year-old daughter, Alexis. He told them he was choking. He told them it was getting hot inside the workshop. Then, a dial tone. He'd lost connection.
The radio alert about Tyrrell caught the attention of Garvin, who was inside a calm showroom, consulting with two store employees about the building's layout.
The employees had assured firefighters that the store was empty, forgetting that Tyrrell worked odd hours.
Garvin and several other firefighters, including St. Andrews firefighters Steven Beasley and Daniel Bilton, traced the rear of the building wall until they heard Tyrrell banging from inside with a hammer. They cut a hole through the building's corrugated metal wall and freed him from the smoky inferno inside.
Tyrrell still repairs furniture at the sofa company's North Charleston location. He's working fewer hours, though, instead focusing on the family furniture repair company his grandfather started.
The small company recently landed a contract to re-upholster furniture for Coast Guard vessels.
It's been a while since Tyrrell stopped by the fire station to play cards with firefighters Beasley and Bilton. Alexis still talks about how she watched the Mickey Mouse Club with the two at the fire house.
Still, he cringes when he hears people slam the department's actions on that June night. He wants everyone to stop blaming the department and start realizing that firefighters did their best.
"They must have done something right because (people) got out," he said. "They did their job."
Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.
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UberBlitzkrieg (anonymous) says...
"They must have done something right because (people) got out," he said. "They did their job.">>
exactley Harpo... what about the 9 that did not?! Their "job" was not to die for furniture.
May 16, 2008 at 6:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ccfirefighterchick (anonymous) says...
The firefighters did what they are trained to do. They were putting the wet stuff on the red stuff and hoping that nobody was trapped inside. When you get a call that someone is in a burning building, the adrenaline goes, and you try every avenue to find that person.
The Charleston Firefighters that died did not do so for furniture. They died trying to save lives and property. They died trying to make sure that the fire didn't spread. They died trying to keep that fire from getting to the gas station that sits next to the Sofa Super Store.
When those men went into that building, they didn't know that the building wasn't up to code. They didn't know that the owner had chained and padlocked the fire exits.
The fire dept did it's job to the best of it's abilities that night. They were using outdated equipment and were not getting the water supply they needed. The line-and-file firefighters were left in charge at the front of the building because their commander left to help save a man.
May 16, 2008 at 7:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Charles_Town (anonymous) says...
I believe there were enough firefighters on the scene to prevent the commander in charge from leaving such an important post. If the chief was able to assist saving the person without going inside, why did so many firefighters enter the building?
May 16, 2008 at 7:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
The arm-chair quarterbacking in the P & C forum continues unabated. It's disgusting.
May 16, 2008 at 8:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UberBlitzkrieg (anonymous) says...
Quoted from the article: "It's been a while since Tyrrell stopped by the fire station to play cards"
Hopefully this card playing time is now being used to provide training on the correct procedures to be used when fighting a fire.>>>
Wrong Fire Department
May 16, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
Sorry, ColdBeer, I'm just calling it like I see it. I don't disagree with your opinions on this issue, because they are valid, legitimate arguments, but I'm just tired of the non-stop "woulda, coulda, shoulda" comments, especially when hindsight is 20/20.
Change is occurring within city administration, thankfully.
May 16, 2008 at 10:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
You have a good point there. On other issues, like development and infrastructure, I think that we as citizens can and should have more of a voice because it involves planning a project that hasn't been built or developed. In this case, it was a tragic mishandling of an emergency, and any input we make is purely after-the-fact. Good point, though.
May 16, 2008 at 10:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
geekguy2008 (anonymous) says...
Garvin needs to be the next to go. He ordered the men into the doomed building and then failed to not only keep track of which firemen went in, but their locations as well.
May 16, 2008 at 11:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
every_1_goeshome (anonymous) says...
Read the reports... Unfortunately because of a failure in Command and failure in communications (which is SOP for the CFD) those crews inside probably never knew someone was trapped, and they certainly never knew that another FD had affected a rescue of Tyrell. If not for St. Andrews FD self dispatching to the scene(Because CFD is too good to call for mutual aid) and having well trained personnel with the right equipment the death toll would certainly have been 10.
May 16, 2008 at 12:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ccfirefighterchick (anonymous) says...
Harpo, it isn't a matter of Garvin not trusting HIS men. Garvin went to assist St. Andrews firefighters in rescuing Mr. Tyrrell. If Chief Garvin hadn't trusted his men, he never would have left his post. I'm not by any means supporting the fact that he left his command position, but please at least read the facts of the article before you comment on them.
May 16, 2008 at 12:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Marianne0558 (anonymous) says...
Okay do did this Jonathan Tyrell guy start the fire or did the other few employees up front?
One of those employees started the fire.
So yeah, it's not the firemen's faults--- it's the ignorant person who threw a lit cigarette into a highly flammable place.
Sometimes, people need to THINK before they do things.
May 16, 2008 at 1:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
GREAT point, Marianne. Has the cause or individual even been identified? It's his/her carelessness that is the cause of ALL of this.
May 16, 2008 at 1:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Marianne0558 (anonymous) says...
Well ColdBeer, I certainly never said I was all-knowing. Thanks for the compliment. *sarcasm noted*
My thoughts were compiled from all the hoo-hah about this story within the last year, where people stated the cause was a lit cigarette disposed improperly.
May 16, 2008 at 2:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Marianne0558 (anonymous) says...
"The panel concluded: "The fire would not have occurred if the combustible materials had not been stored in proximity to a smoking area or if smoking had been prohibited in that area."
May 16, 2008 at 2:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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