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Remembering the Charleston Sofa Super Store Fire Six Years Later
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June 18, 2013 – Six years ago today, nine Charleston, South Carolina, fire fighters -- including members of Charleston Local 61 -- made the ultimate sacrifice while battling the Charleston Sofa Super Store fire.
The nine were Louis Mulkey, Mike Benke, Melven Champaign, William Hutchinson, Rodney "Brad" Baity, James Drayton, Mark Kelsey, Michael French and Brandon Thompson.
“No matter how many years pass, we will never forget the brothers we lost that day,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “We will remember them at memorials in Charleston and we will visit their names etched into the wall at the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in Colorado Springs.”
The Sofa Super Store had no sprinkler system. Flames weakened the structure, causing it to collapse and trapping the nine inside. Fire fighters on the outside were unable to reach their trapped brothers in time to save them.
The land that once housed the Sofa Super Store was purchased by the City of Charleston and is now a city park. Memorial plaques have been placed in remembrance of the nine fire fighters who lost their lives. Charleston fire fighters gather at the site every year to reflect.
Click here for the final incident report on the fire. It recommended increased training and updates to fire ground procedures and apparatus.
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