Scott J. Croteau
The Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER, Mass. — Retired city Fire Chief Dennis L. Budd got the call Thursday morning.
Firefighter Jon D. Davies Sr. had died fighting a blaze inside an Arlington Street three-decker.
For the former head of the Worcester Fire Department, the wounds from 12 years ago reopened.
“It was strange, because we thought we were putting this behind us,” he said. “We only found it was buried and hiding in a corner somewhere.”
Mr. Budd, who retired in November 2000, is flying back to Massachusetts Wednesday so he can attend the funeral services for Firefighter Davies.
The retired chief, speaking from his home in Englewood, Fla., said the memories of losing six firefighters in the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. fire will never disappear. But he thought the painful emotions were hidden away.
“The minute I found about this, it just came back,” he said. “After 12 years you never lose it. You always have the scars.”
The pain of loss, the nauseous feeling in his stomach, the memories of that horrible fire on Dec. 3, 1999, all came rushing back.
Firefighter Davies died Thursday battling a three-alarm early-morning blaze at 49 Arlington St. He was a member of Rescue 1, and went back into the fire with his partner, Firefighter Brian Carroll, when a resident in the building said someone might still be inside.
While they were inside, the back porch collapsed, causing Firefighter Carroll to slip inside the basement. Firefighter Davies was found on the first floor.
Retired District Fire Chief Michael O. McNamee, who now lives on Cape Cod, also found out Thursday morning. He remembers Firefighter Davies from his time on Engine 1.
“What a strong guy. He was a bull,” Mr. McNamee said. “Those are the types of people when this happens, it happens to. The good ones.”
Authorities said an unidentified man remains unaccounted for. It is unclear if he is in the rubble, or if he fled the area. Investigators are confident they know the man’s identity, but have not released his name.
The cause and origin of the fire remain unknown.
Firefighter Carroll has been released from the hospital and went back home to Paxton. Mr. Budd was concerned about the firefighter’s emotional state and plans to speak to him sometime this week.
“I’m sure emotions are running high on Brian right now under the circumstances,” Mr. Budd said. “I kind of think of it like a combat fire team. You go in there; you’re emotionally there and there to protect the guys you are with. That takes a big toll on you when you lose somebody.”
Fire officials said Firefighter Carroll was freed from the debris just as his 45-minute air tank ran out. Mr. McNamee said that during some training exercises fire officials found members of the dive team were able to conserve tanks. Firefighters Carroll and Davies were both on the dive team.
That training is most likely the reason Firefighter Carroll kept his tank going for more than 45 minutes.
Mr. McNamee has spoken to a few firefighters working the day of the Arlington Street fire.
“We know our three-deckers. They are our bread and butter,” he said.
Usually if a building is about to come down, there is a warning sign. Firefighters told Mr. McNamee there wasn’t this time.
“There was no warning,” he said. “It was just like a shotgun. It just came down.”
Mr. McNamee was at the Dec. 3, 1999, anniversary earlier this month. He too sensed that many people were at a time in their lives when they were able to move on. The Arlington Street fire changed that.
“It felt like the pain wasn’t as much on the surface as it had been in the past. It seemed as if we were taking another step forward, a little more at peace,” he said. “Then this pulls you back.”
Mr. Budd was on Group Four, the group Firefighters Davies and Carroll are a part of. He knows the closeness of that group or any group within the department. He also recalled that Firefighter Davies was on the first crew to head into the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. fire, and was stationed at the new Franklin Street Fire Station, which is on the footprint of the old warehouse building.
Fire Chief Gerard A. Dio was on the internal investigation team after the 1999 fire. Mr. Budd said having a firefighter die on duty never leaves a chief’s mind. “I really feel for Chief Dio,” he said. “He has really gone through this twice. There’s no place to pass it back. It is really different when you own it.”
One of the most important things for all the firefighters who need it is counseling, Mr. Budd said. It was a requirement for firefighters working the scene of the warehouse fire, he said.
Mr. Budd said that after the warehouse fire the Worcester Fire Department worked hard and became the frontrunner in training to keep firefighters safe. Like other departments, Worcester used to respond to a fire and work hard above all to save those inside. Since the warehouse fire, keeping firefighters safe also became a priority.
State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said last week that Worcester led the country in training on keeping firefighters safe.
All of the training done by the department after the Dec. 3, 1999, fire helped firefighters find their two co-workers at the Arlington Street fire, Mr. McNamee believes. Members of the technical rescue team, a team that both firefighters belonged to, were the ones who went in and helped get them out.
“From everything I’ve heard, they did a fantastic job,” he said.
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