By Jeffrey Collins
The Associated Press

AP Photo/Stephen Morton Firefighters from Charleston embrace in front of the rubble of the store after the fire.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The family of one of nine firefighters killed in a furniture store blaze sued the store's owner Monday, along with contractors who worked on the building and the makers of furniture inside the showroom.

The lawsuit filed in county court on behalf of the estate of Melvin Champaign is the first since the June 18 inferno at the Sofa Super Store in Charleston.

His relatives seek unspecified damages for negligence, saying thick, toxic smoke from the fire combined with locked doors and the store's confusing layout left Champaign knowing he couldn't escape and was going to die.

Autopsies showed the men died from burns and smoke inhalation. It was the nation's single worst loss of firefighters since the 2001 terror attacks at the World Trade Center.

A lawyer for Herb Goldstein and his family, who operated the Sofa Super Store, said they had not seen the lawsuit.

"The family continues to grieve for the loss of so many fine firemen in the fire that destroyed their store," attorney Richard S. Rosen said in a news release. "Despite the lawsuit, we will continue to cooperate with the city and the mayor in their investigation of the fire and help in the community's response to it."

Champaign had been with the Charleston Fire Department for two years. He left behind three children, according to the lawsuit.

Champaign's family suggests in the lawsuit that the fire started when smoking materials ignited varnish or other flammable materials around a covered loading dock attached to the main storeroom. Investigators have acknowledged that is where the fire started, but have not released a cause.

Workers have said the area was used for smoke breaks.