The Post and Courier
 AP Photo/Alice Keeney Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. speaks after the fire as Chief Rusty Thomas wipes away a tear. |
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Charleston Mayor Joe Riley has reversed his decision to withhold a highly anticipated report on the deadly June 18 Sofa Super Store fire. The document will be released May 15, he said Tuesday at a noon press conference.
Last week, the mayor said he wanted to hold the report until two federal agencies completed their probes of the blaze. But Riley said he changed his mind late Monday after speaking with firefighters and learning of concerns voiced by families of the fallen. Both groups wanted the report released as soon as possible, he said.
Riley said his plan to delay the report was a “sound decision in a perfect world,” designed to ensure that the final document would include all available information. But he conceded that the city had raised expectations about the report’s pending release.
“The right thing to do is to not delay the report,” Riley said.
The city-appointed panel that wrote the independent report has said its work is complete and it is prepared to issue the document.
Local and national firefighters unions had called for firefighters and citizens to descend on tonight’s City Council meeting and demand the report’s immediate release. Riley’s announcement came just hours before that meeting.
International Association of Fire Fighters General President Harold Schaitberger praised the mayor’s decision, saying the report “is badly needed by our Local 61 members and the families of the fallen to make the necessary changes within the Charleston Fire Department and to let the healing continue for the entire community.”
“Over the past two days, I have had some in-depth conversations with Mayor Riley, and I found in those very frank yet respectful discussions that he is a man who really listens to all sides of an argument, because he truly cares about the well-being of the City of Charleston and its great citizens and fire fighters,” Schaitberger said in a prepared statement.