Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse Fire

Fourteen years ago today, two mentally unstable homeless people accidentally started a fire, left and never reported it. It burned undetected for up to an hour and a half before anyone noticed, and when the first responders heard there might be two people inside they went in search of them. Two firefighters, Paul Brotheron and Jeremiah Lucey, became lost and disoriented and radioed for help. Four others -- firefighters McGuirk, Jackson, Lyons and Lieutenant Spencer -- went in search of their men before they too succumbed to the fire. I was only 9 at the time, and I watched in a group of about 40 from a restaurant parking lot, terrified, as the fire raged on and on. Six brave men -- known now as the Worcester 6 -- lost their lives that night, and our city has never been the same.

It took eight days to recover all six bodies. By that point, it had received national attention; even President Clinton and VP Gore came to the memorial service at the arena down the street from the site. A fire station and a memorial to these men now stands in the spot that was once the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse. I never want the world to forget these men and the sacrifices they made to save strangers and comrades.

If nothing else, just be thankful for the brave and selfless of this world who would literally give up their lives to save someone. Thank a firefighter today.