The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Charleston fire captain trained a hose on the flames chewing through the Sofa Super Store as billowing smoke choked the air around him. Behind him, a firefighter struggled to find slack in the line so they could move the hose closer to the heart of the blaze.

Water shot from the hose in irregular bursts. Then suddenly the line went dead, the stream turning to a trickle.

The captain clawed at his radio to call someone, find out what happened to the water. But the radio didn't work.

He was stuck in silence as black smoke blanketed the room, blotting out light, and heat seared the very air around him.

The story is one of several tales of chaos, bravery and desperation that fill a draft federal report on the deadly June 18 fire. In rapidly deteriorating conditions and against insurmountable odds, firefighters continued to battle a fire that got the best of them and killed nine of their own.

The report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health describes harrowing scenes in which firefighters quickly found themselves struggling for water, unable to see, bumping into one another as their air tanks ran dry. Above them they could see the steel truss roof glowing red on its way to collapse.

Realizing they were in trouble, some pleaded for help. A mayday was called. Another firefighter radioed that he had lost the hose line and needed help. One activated the emergency button on his radio. Still, men rushed inside, looking to help.

One firefighter struggled to find his crew as he dragged hose line into the superheated building, barely able to see. Then his low-air alarm went off. As he tried to follow the hose back, it snaked under a piece of furniture and disappeared. He jumped over the furniture, desperately searching for the line. It wasn't there.

He found another firefighter who helped lead him to safety. Then he simply changed air packs and dashed into the building once again to find the men he'd left behind. He made it only 50 feet inside this time, as intense flames and heat forced him back. He finally jumped through a showroom window to escape the inferno.

Two others from a neighboring fire department followed hoses inside and found a pair of city firefighters in distress. One man was on his hands and knees,screaming for help as he tried to drag his comrade to safety. As the two rescuers tried to help, the showroom erupted in flames, knocking them to the floor. They escaped, but without the men they had tried to save.

In a matter of minutes, the flames had won and nine men were gone.

Read the NIOSH draft report (pdf)