Massachusetts Fire Chief 2009

BE WARE OF THE TRUSS NAMES OF THE FIREFIGHTERS KILLED AT THE STRAND THEATRE FIRE MARCH 10, 1941: CAPTAIN JOHN F. CARROLL, LADDER COMPANY 3, FIREFIGHTER MATHEW E. MCGEARY, LADDER COMPANY 3, FIREFIGHTER WILLIAM J. MURPHY, SQUAD A, FIREFIGHTER DANIEL C. O’BRIEN, SQUAD A, FIREFIGHTER ROY A. MCKERAGHAN, SQUAD A, LIEUTENANT RAYMOND A. MITCHELL, ENGINE COMPANY 4, FIREFIGHTER FREDERICK F. KELLEY, ENGINE COMPANY 1, FIREFIGHTER GEORGE A. COLLINS, ENGINE COMPANY 1, FIREFIGHTER HENRY E. SULLIVAN, ENGINE COMPANY 1, FIREFIGHTER MARTIN E. LIPPER, ENGINE COMPANY 1, FIREFIGHTER BARTHOLOMEW R. HERLIHY, LADDER COMPANY 1, FIREFIGHTER JOHN M. MCNEILL, LADDER COMPANY 1, FIREFIGHTER DENIS P. MURPHY, SQUAD A Three Engine Companies, one Ladder Company and Squad A responded under the command of the Deputy Chief, with his aide. On arrival, they found a cellar ﬁre burning under the lobby area, adjacent to the main theatre, where the boiler room and storage areas were located. The Second Alarm was quickly transmitted while crews employed several “cellar pipes” and worked at opening up the wire lath and plaster walls that formed a hidden void that extended from the basement and ﬁrst ﬂoor area to the roof. The ﬁre did not appear to be serious, as crews worked to open the ceiling area under the balcony. The ﬁ re was darkening down when ﬁre was discovered on the outside of the building, along the roof line over the balcony area. Inside, crews were sent to the balcony area to open the walls and attempt to open the high ceiling over the balcony. About one hour after the crews arrived, suddenly and without any warning, the steel trusses in the concealed void space over the balcony that supported the roof and wire lath ceiling collapsed down onto the crews working on the balcony. Initially, twelve ﬁreﬁghters were killed due to the collapse and resulting rapidly accelerated ﬁ re conditions. A thirteenth ﬁreﬁghter died from his injuries the next day. The bodies, some burned beyond recognition, were removed at daylight after determining that the danger of further building collapse was under control. This ﬁre resulted in the death of 10% of the ﬁreﬁghters in the Department, resulted in serious injury to twenty-two ﬁreﬁghters, left thirteen widows without a husband and twenty-six children fatherless. The cause of the ﬁre was never ofﬁcially determined but apparently started in the basement area, underneath the lobby area. On March 10, 1942, on the ﬁ rst anniversary of the disaster, a memorial was held in the rotunda of City Hall where the Scranton, PA, Fire Department Union presented to the City of Brockton a hand carved piece of anthracite coal, containing the names of the thirteen Fireﬁghters killed at the Strand Theatre Fire. Each year, on March 10, a memorial ceremony is held at City Hall, with the anthracite coal memorial serving as the centerpiece for the ceremony. In 2000, a Strand Theatre Fire Memorial Committee was formed to develop a suitable memorial to be placed at the City Hall plaza, directly in front of the original site of the Strand Theatre. On May 10, 2008, after many years of fundraising efforts and events, a dedication ceremony, attended by the fallen ﬁ reﬁghters’ families and hundreds of ﬁreﬁghters, was held at the plaza. The memorial, erected in the memory of the thirteen Brockton Fireﬁghters who made the supreme sacriﬁce as they battled the Strand Theatre Fire in the cold and deadly early morning hours of March 10, 1941, depicts an exhausted ﬁreﬁghter kneeling in sorrow, reﬂecting on the tragic events of that day. The memorial ﬁreﬁghter kneels on top of a large, black granite base that is inscribed in gold letters with the thirteen Fireﬁghters’ names that gave their lives in the line of duty. The face of the kneeling ﬁreﬁghter depicts the facial features of retired Brockton Fire Chief Edward L. Burrell, who was at the Strand Theatre ﬁre as a new ﬁreﬁghter, assigned to Ladder Company 2. Chief Burrell, age 93, was at the dedication on May 10, 2008, and was recognized for his presence. P.O. Box 1797 Pittsfield, MA 01202 • Ph: 413.446.9174 • Fax: 413.247.3237 Email: SpecializedRadioSys@mac.com • Website: web.me.com/SpecializedRadioSys P.O. Box 1404 Framingham, MA 07101 508-308-9229 www.liotec.com johnbuckley@liotec.com Two-Way Radio Communications for the Fire Market Based in Framingham MA, LIOTEC has a large selection of powerful portable lighting solutions for Fire search and rescue and first responder personnel. We are an authorized dealer for all WOLF-EYES and FoxFury lighting products featuring NFPA and intrinsically safe portable lighting solutions. Printing custom Logos and Department names on select products is also available. 36 | M ASSACHUS E TTS FI RE C H I E F 2009 http://www.liotec.com http://web.me.com/SpecializedRadioSys

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Massachusetts Fire Chief 2009

Massachusetts Fire Chief 2009 Contents A Message from the FCAM President Code of Ethics/Vision Statement Bonds of Service Legislative Report The Fire Chief for 2009 and Beyond Leading a Combination Fire Department Remember When Fighting for Code Change Leadership Matters Fire Risk Management - Fire Chiefs - Codes The Current Economy and its Effect on Fire Departments Statewide Fire Mobilization Plan Beware of the Truss Index of Advertisers

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