The ceremony began with a moment of silence at 6:13 p.m., the moment the first alarm called the firefighters to the inferno at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. Many residents and well-wishers left mementos throughout the day.
While a clergyman offered prayers, wreaths were laid honoring the firefighters in pairs, signifying the crews they worked on together. Some spectators held lighted candles; firefighters in full gear stood holding their helmets over their hearts.
Fire departments throughout Massachusetts also observed the anniversary moment by sounding sirens or ringing alarms.
The firefighter death toll in the blaze was the worst in Worcester history and among the worst ever statewide. Killed were Paul Brotherton, Jeremiah Lucey, Thomas Spencer, Timothy Jackson, James Lyons and Joseph McGuirk, who ranged in age from 34 to 51. They left behind 17 children. Two had gone into the building in search of homeless people who were believed to have been inside, but who in reality had fled. Two more firefighters followed when their colleagues became disoriented, and two more followed them.
It would be more than a week before all the bodies were recovered. In the wake of the tragedy, the department changed some of its procedures.
"We no longer take some of the shortcuts we may have taken before," District Fire Chief Paul Rogacz told Boston television WHDH. Pairs of firefighters no longer enter a burning building without another pair as backup, for example. Equipment, too, has been updated, with thermal imaging cameras and new radios.
Two homeless people, who had been squatting in the building and accidentally started the fire when they knocked over a candle during an argument, initially were charged with manslaughter for failing to report it, but the charges eventually were dismissed. A move is under way to enact legislation requiring people to report fires.
The story had a poignant outcome for the homeless woman implicated in the fire. Julie Barnes was united with the Maine family that had adopted her biological sister years before, but had been unable to adopt her as well. They noticed the family resemblance while watching televised news accounts of the fire's aftermath.
Copyright 2000 by United Press International.
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