Charleston's 9 to be included

Maryland town site of national ceremony

The nation will pay tribute Sunday to dozens of firefighters who died in the line of duty last year, including nine men from Charleston killed while battling the massive Sofa Super Store blaze.

Charleston firefighters, relatives of the fallen and Mayor Joe Riley are among some 50 people from the Holy City expected to attend the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service in Emmitsburg, Md. Thomas Carr Jr., who is expected to become Charleston's next fire chief, will attend the service in his current role as fire chief in Montgomery County, Md.

In all, more than 5,000 people are expected at the National Fire Academy for the event, which will honor 101 firefighters from 34 states who died in the line of duty last year.

Capt. Pete Salvo of Charleston Fire Station 17 considers it a privilege to serve as a member of the department's honor guard at the service.

"This is our way of remembering those guys and keeping them in our minds," he said. "They were a great bunch of guys, and I wouldn't miss this for anything in the world."

South Carolina, with 10 on-duty deaths in 2007, accounted for nearly 10 percent of the nation's firefighter fatalities.

Killed in the June 18, 2007, fire at the sofa store in West Ashley were Engineer Bradford Baity, 37; Capt. Theodore "Mike" Benke, 49; Firefighter Melvin Champaign, 56; Firefighter James "Earl" Drayton, 56; Assistant Engineer Michael French, 27; Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson, 48; Engineer Mark Kelsey, 40; Capt. Louis Mulkey, 34; and Firefighter Brandon Thompson, 27.

Wagener Firefighter Jeffrey Swartz, 36, accounted for South Carolina's remaining fire service fatality last year, having died in a motor vehicle accident while responding to a medical call on Aug. 19, 2007.

Sunday's service will cap a long year of memorials for the families and friends of the Charleston fallen. Earlier ceremonies were held in Charleston, Columbia, Myrtle Beach and Colorado.

Engine 19 Engineer John Cole, another honor guard member, said he struggles to keep his feelings in check while honoring men he served with and called friends. "The emotions really get to you. When you give the flags to the families, it's almost like they are reliving it all."

Cole traveled to Colorado last month and took part in the International Association of Fire Fighters' annual memorial. Cole presented a folded flag to Hunter Benke, son of Mike Benke. "He looks so much like his father. It was very hard to do."

The city gave firefighters from each station that lost men the opportunity to attend the Maryland service at the city's expense. Some accepted the offer. Also, members of the state firefighter association's counseling unit will make the trip to help support the Charleston contingent.

Jean Dangerfield and several family members are making the trip to honor her brother, Michael French. "We can't ever put it behind us, because it will always be there," she said. "But it will be nice to move forward after this and move out of the spotlight."

---

Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Post and Courier does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our Web site.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.

---

Comments

This article has  2 comment(s)