A line of duty death anniversary

(Memphis Fire EMS, YouTube)

HighRise Ops Staff

MEMPHIS, Tennessee – On April 11, 1994, at 0205 hours, a call was placed to the Memphis Fire Department from the security service for a high-rise apartment building in Memphis, reporting a possible fire on the ninth floor.

Engine Company 7 and Snorkel 13 were the first respondents and arrived at the apartment high rise at 0208 hours. Engine Company 7, being the first on the scene, assumed command. Fire Fighter No. 1 (victim No. 1), Fire Fighter No. 2 (victim No. 2), and Fire Fighter No. 3 of Engine Company 7, and Fire Fighter No. 4 and No. 5 of Snorkel 13 entered the building through the main lobby; they were aware that the annunciator board was showing possible fires on the ninth and tenth floors.

All five fire fighters used the lobby elevator and proceeded to the ninth floor (lobby command radioed Fire Fighter No. 1 that smoke was showing from a ninth floor window).

When the doors of the elevator opened on the ninth floor, the hall was filled with thick black smoke. Fire Fighters No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 5 stepped off the elevator. Fire Fighter No. 3, who was carrying the hotel pack (two 50-foot lengths of hose) was still on the elevator, holding the door open with his foot,as he struggled to don his self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

Fire Fighter No. 3’s foot slipped off the elevator door, allowing the door to close and the elevator to return to the ground floor, with Fire Fighter No. 3 still inside. Note: This elevator was not equipped with firefighter control. READ MORE