By Olivia Biagi
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — It couldn’t have been a more perfect fall day. The sun shone brightly. Temperatures were in the low 60s. But Bobbie Crowder didn’t want to be in front of the Residences at the Ritz Carlton.
Her cousin was one of three firefighters who lost their lives at that spot as they battled one of the worst blazes in city history. Yesterday morning, more than 18 years after the fire, the three were honored at a ceremony in front of the condominium complex.
“I didn’t want to come today,” Crowder said as city officials unveiled a granite-based monument commemorating fallen firefighters James A. Chappell - her cousin - Capt. David P. Holcombe, and Phyllis McAllister, all members of Engine Company 11.
But in the end, she was glad she came.
“This is closure for me,” said Crowder, who because of illness could not attend Chappell’s funeral and didn’t have the chance to say goodbye.
“Today is a day to pay a debt long overdue - a debt of gratitude,” said Craig Spencer, developer of the Residences, which stand of the original site of One Meridian Plaza at 1414 S. Penn Square.
The bench-high monument - a granite base with three firefighter helmets - was donated by Spencer’s company, the Arden Group. In addition, the Hero Fire Fighter Program dedicated three brass plaques honoring the efforts of Holcombe, McAllister, and Chappell.
The monument is inscribed with the words: “To sacrifice one’s own safety in the service of others requires a courage that is rare. Those among us who do are true heroes.”
“It’s been a work in progress between us and the Fire Department,” Spencer, who bought the property in 2000 to build condominiums, said of the monument. “We worked very closely with them. It’s for them, not for us.”
As about 300 people looked on, Bill Gault, president of the city’s firefighters union; Roger Ulshafer, fire commissioner in 1991; and James Binns, founder of the Hero Fire Fighter Program, recounted the tragedy.
The fire started on the 22d floor of the 38-story office building, Gault said. When firefighters arrived just after 8:30 p.m., windows on that floor had burst from the heat. The falling glass cut hoses carrying water and air.
Holcombe, McAllister, and Chappell were assigned to open hatches on the roof. Just before 10 p.m., Holcombe radioed that they had become disoriented in heavy smoke on the 30th floor and asked for permission to break open a window for air. Then McAllister and Chappell radioed that the captain was down.
Two search-and-rescue teams were dispatched but were unable to find the men, later discovered on the 28th floor.
Meanwhile, the building’s structural integrity became a threat, and a collapse was possible. Because of the danger, Ulshafer ordered the evacuation of the 300 firefighters on the scene.
The department hoped that the nine sprinklers on the 30th floor would put out the fire. They did - 19 hours after the blaze began.
“This particular tragedy is so poignant because it happened where we all work and live - the hub of our city,” Binns said.
Gault noted that a subsequent investigation led to legislation and code and operational changes that have made firefighters’ lives safer. Those changes, he added, have saved countless lives.
After the ceremony, Crowder recalled the night before the blaze - the last time she saw her cousin.
Chappell went to her home after his car broke down nearby. Crowder said they rented videos and stayed up late talking. She took him home about 3:30 a.m.
The next day, he called to say he was filling in for a fellow firefighter.
Jack Bloomer drove Engine 11 that fateful night.
“I guess it has brought some closure,” he said of the ceremony. “It’s been a long 18 years, and it’s something I will never forget. I think about those guys almost every day.”
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