Can someone please explain it to me? I'm stupid so use basic words.

[hickman]

How did 9 firefighters die saving furniture? I don't buy the stories about someone was in the store. I'll bet my next paycheck that they were pressured to save the merchandise.

[MonkeyFunk]

1. pressured?

No, it's their job to put out fires. Firemen don't let buildings burn as long as there no people in them.

[hickman]

8. It's their job to put out fires. Going into a building that is already

compromised is stupid and they don't do it. They contain the fire from the outside. Someone sent those guys into a deadly situation. I want to know why.

[Ptah]

9. stupid n/t

You can tell from where you are?

[KitchenWitch]

27. It was reported that there were still people trapped in the building

when the firefighters were sent in. They were sent in to rescue those people.

[fizzgig]

2. i'm gonna have to disagree with you

there was no point in them saving the merchandise, it wouldn't have been sellable and would have been insured.

why don't you believe there were still people in the store?

it sounds like the fire hit flashover pretty quickly and i can only imagine what the conditions inside the building were (i have been inside burn buildings and it can be damn disorienting under controlled conditions).

[hickman]

10. The store was closed. Nobody should have been in it.. n/t

[Ptah]

3. They weren't trying to save furniture.

They were trying to save people.



stinkeye for you

[hickman]

6. I'm sorry but wasn't the store closed?

It was after hours.

[Ptah]

7. They had to be sure that no one was in there.

:cry:

[China_cat]

16. The store had just closed. People could not be located

who worked days. And the store had employees that worked nights cleaning and rearranging displays. And how many businesses can you name that are completely empty of personnel the minute the store closes? There are books to be done, paperwork, registers to be cleared, days take to be tallied. Normal business closeup means at least another hour to hour and a half after customers are gone.

If you are thinking this happened in the dead of night, maybe you need to read the news reports again. The fire was first noticed and reported at 6pm, half an hour after the store closed.

[qdemn7]

4. The roof collapsed on them

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19301684/

He later told CNN the roof collapsed too quickly for anyone to escape.

“It came from nowhere,” he said. “It was a standing structure and five seconds later it was on the ground.”

[krispos42]

5. Well, if you don't buy the stories that people were in the store...

then we can't help you.

There really isn't any other reason to be in the store. Firemen like being out the outside spraying inward, yanno?

[hickman]

11. As I've said I'm stupid.

Feel free to pm me as the news comes thru and proves me wrong.

[Ptah]

12. I see no assertion to dissemble.

:shrug:

[hickman]

13. My assertion was that there was no reason for them to go in.

I don't think I've dissembled. I don't seek to justify. I hope to God I'm wrong, but these days property is more valued than life.

[Ptah]

15. And your basis for presuming there was no one in there is?

?????????????

[China_cat]

18. Don't need to pm you

From the Charleston Post & Courier:

Capt. Ralph Linderman of the St. Andrews Fire Department said the blaze was the hottest he could recall in three decades of firefighting. "That fire bent steel like a wet noodle," he said.

Four employees were in the store when the fire started. Two firefighters freed one worker who was trapped in a repair workshop near the building's east side by cutting a hole in the side of the metal building.

Meanwhile, thick, black smoke was filling the showroom, leaving firefighters disoriented as they struggled to find their way through a jumble of sofas, beds and other furniture. "Everything just went bad at one time," Thomas said. "Trying to see with all that furniture in the store and trying to get out, it just didn't happen."

Charleston Fire Capt. Jake Jenkins said the firefighters were spread out in teams when the roof — a steel truss system — collapsed. Other crews fought to get inside the building and rescue the fallen, but the conditions were too bad, he said.

Due to the 4 paragraph rule...the firefighters were found in 3 groups of 2 and one group of 3 in different places in the building.

Edited to add that yes, there were 4 in the store but 2 were able to get out on their own while 2 were trapped.

[China_cat]

14. There were 2 employees trapped in the store

and it was thought there were more. Not only that but the area surrounding the store is heavily residential (3 houses burned, too and several others were damaged, more than 100 people evacuated) and there is a gas station that could have exploded and taken out even more.

The firefighters were in different parts of the building when the heat melted the supports holding up the roof.

As to your contention that they were pressured to save merchandise, it's bullshit. By the time they got there the fire had reached flashover point. There was no salvagable merchandise.

Here in Charleston, we're still in a state of shock. Crap like what you're spewing sure as hell doesn't help.

[hickman]

17. I am sorry China_cat. I didn't mean to offend.

Maybe my impending elderliness is making me paranoid. Maybe 7 years of lies has made me paranoid. I am so sorry if I made it worse for you. I ask forgiveness.

[China_cat]

19. There's no one more willing to impute motives of greed

to our officials. SC has had state legislators that not only did their jobs but won re-election from jail cells.

Sometimes that corruption has made its way to our police departments.

But not our fire departments. They're understaffed, underfunded, underequipped, underpaid and STILL they do a great job. I can't imagine them allowing themselves to be pressured to save property at the cost of lives. Nobody expected steel to melt like that. It was a tragedy, but not one manufactured from greed.

Nine gone. From the young man who was only with the department for two years to three who would probably describe themselves as you do...as impending elderly...and were on the verge of retirement. Three men with 32, 30 and 29 years of service. It's just so hard to even fathom.

[Radio_Lady]

25. I haven't been following this story... how sad! My heart goes out to all involved.

RIP, Firefighters of Charleston.

I don't know how you do it... but somebody has to do it. Here is the logo of the people who we have on the fire and rescue front lines:



Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, Oregon

[AllegroRondo]

20. bad information

they believed there were many people in the store, and that the fire was not as bad as it really was.

[Midlodemocrat]

21. Personally, I think it is very unseemly to question their motives.

You weren't there. I wasn't there. I think I will believe what I've read and heard.

They were heroes. End of story.

[hickman]

24. Midlodemocrat, why is it unseemly to ask?

Why is it unseemly to question the death of nine people who's job was to save lives. Should we just not question and let it happen again? I respectfully disagree.

[LynneSin]

22. To be honest, even I wondered that question myself....

but only because I've never put out a fire any bigger than what I made at girl scout camp. I think the OP had a good question, he even qualified his level of knowledge in the post. So of course, we DUers do what we do best and get snippy & rude.

You could have simply answered the question with the understanding that the poster (and hell even me) are not very knowledgeable when it comes to fire and let's face it - when we hear something tragic like this we tend to ask why.

Show some respect please!

[datasuspect]

23. most furniture is made from polyurethane foam and other plastics

plastic is made from petrochemical products.

enough plastic and some flame, you get a quick, fast burning fire.



and i don't think you have ill intent in your original post, maybe a lack of information, that's what asking questions is for. which you did. i don't understand why people are jumping your shit, because you made no assertion i can see.

i think you proposed that property has taken on such immense importance or something like that.

i see that trend too, but this is a matter of physics.

[Lex]

26. The 911 call said people were most likely inside. It happened around 6pm.

nt