FIREFIGHTER KILLED AFTER BECOMING DISORIENTED DURING SUSPICIOUS THREE-ALARM FIRE IN VACANT INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSE – COLUMBUS, OHIO – SEEPTEMBER 15, 1982

Firefighter Killed After Becoming Disoriented During Suspicious Three-Alarm Fire in Vacant Industrial Warehouse – Columbus, Ohio – September 15, 1982

On September 15, 1982, Columbus Firefighter Maurice Gates of Engine 10 died after becoming separated from his crew while operating during a fire in vacant industrial warehouse. When it was realized that Firefighter Gates was still in the building after his crew was withdrawn due to deteriorating conditions, firefighters desperately tried rescue him but were unable to locate the missing member. His body was recovered more than two hours later from the wreckage of the building. Fire investigators believed that the fire was intentionally set because the locked warehouse had been broken into two times in the days preceding the fire, but no one was charged with a crime. Firefighter Gates was the first Columbus firefighter killed in the line of duty in ten years.

The structure involved in the incident was a one-story Type III Ordinary construction brick-faced concrete block warehouse formerly used as a machine shop located midblock at 144 South Glenwood Avenue between West State Street and West Town Street in the Franklinton area of the city. The warehouse was located about two miles west of the downtown central business district and was unoccupied at the time of the fire. The building measured about 125 deep, 50 feet wide, and 12 feet high fronting on 60-foot-wide South Glenwood Street on Side Alpha. A one-story commercial building occupied by a printing shop was separated from the fire building by a narrow passageway on Side Bravo. Side Charlie fronted on a 15-foot-wide rear alley. A one-story similarly constructed addition that measured about 50 feet wide and 125 feet deep was attached on Exposure Delta and had an opening between the two sections. The building had a roof assembly that was supported by wood trusses. There was no fire alarm system or automatic fire sprinkler system installed in the warehouse. A fire hydrant fed by a 12-inch water main was located about 200 feet south at the corner of West Town Street.

Columbus is the state capital and the most populous city in the State of Ohio. With a 2020 U.S. census population of 905,748, it is the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago. Located at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, the 233 square mile city lies 140 miles southwest of Cleveland and 110 miles northeast of Cincinnati. Columbus originated as numerous Native American settlements on the banks of the Scioto River. Franklinton, now a city neighborhood, was the first European settlement, laid out in 1797. The city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers and laid out to become the state capital. The city was named for Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. The city assumed the function of state capital in 1816.  Amid steady years of growth and industrialization, the city has experienced numerous floods and recessions. Beginning in the 1950s, Columbus began to experience significant growth; it became the largest city in Ohio in land and population by the early 1990s. Growth has continued in the 21st century, with redevelopment occurring in numerous city neighborhoods, including Downtown.

The city is protected by the municipal Division of Fire that was created in 1822 and then known as the Columbus Fire Department. Today, the Columbus Division of Fire provides fire and rescue protection and emergency medical services to the citizens and visitors of the city. The Division operates 35 fire stations divided into 7 battalions with 35 engine companies, 16 ladder companies, 5 rescue companies, and 40 EMS transport vehicles as well as several specialty units and reserve apparatus. It is staffed by a minimum of 292 personnel during daytime hours (first 12 hours) and 331 during nighttime hours (second 12 hours). The Division also oversees 39 medic companies. There are 1,592 uniformed and 70 civilian professionals in the Division which responds to over 150,000 calls for service annually.

Area weather conditions on the morning of the fire included an air temperature of 66 degrees F and a relative humidity of 96% with a northeast wind at 5 mph under cloudy skies (Weather Underground). The weather conditions on the day of the incident did not appear to have a significant impact on fire development or the outcome of the incident.

On the morning of Wednesday, September 15, 1982, Bill Caldwell, a truck driver for a nearby oil company and other employees were commenting about the smog hanging over the area when they heard a muffled explosion followed by flames shooting from the roof of the vacant warehouse across the street. A call was quickly placed at 8:48 a.m. to summon the fire department.

Columbus Engine 10 was the first fire unit on the scene and reported smoke and flames showing above the roof of the building. Concerned that the blaze might spread to the adjoining buildings, additional alarms were sounded. A hose crew from Engine 10 including Firefighter Maurice Gates entered the building to search for the seat of the fire.

Interior firefighters encountered a dense smoke condition inside the building as they had difficulty locating the source of the fire. After navigating the inside of the structure for several minutes, Firefighter Gates and other member of his engine company left the building to replenish their air supplies. This was where Gates was last seen before he reentered the smoke-filled warehouse.

As conditions deteriorated on the inside of the burning warehouse, crews were ordered to withdrawn. It was then that the members of Engine 10 noticed that Firefighter Gates had become separated from his crew and had not exited the building. It was assumed that Gates had become disoriented and was now lost within the building.

A rescue team was quickly formed as firefighters desperately tried locate the missing firefighter but were unable to find him. As conditions further deteriorated, all personnel were ordered to evacuate the building as the wood truss roof of the structure began to collapse. Firefighters reluctantly set up defensive operations with master streams to control the fire and keep it from spreading to the nearby exposure buildings in the industrial area.

The body of the young firefighter was recovered shortly after 10 a.m. in the ruins of the burned-out industrial building. Many of the firefighters on the scene began to weep as Gates’ body was carried out of the rubble on a stretcher. The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation. Firefighter Maurice Gates was the first firefighter to be killed in the line of duty since January 24, 1972, when Lieutenant Jack Russ died from injuries suffered in a fire nine days earlier.

Fire Chief Raymond Fadley said that Firefighter Gates had apparently gotten separated from the other members working in the interior of the warehouse. Gates was last seen when he came out of the burning building to change his air tank. Fire investigators believed that Gates had re-enter the building not knowing that his unit had been ordered to leave. “I have no idea what happened. He was in there fighting the fire. That was our main concern when we lost track of him, instead of concentrating on the fire,” Fadley said. The Chief also noted that high tension wires and electrical transformers near the building made fighting the blaze difficult. Firefighters were concerned that the fire might spread to the roofs of adjoining commercial buildings.

Grover Pendleton, owner of the building, told arson investigators the building had been broken into twice in the past two weeks. Investigators believed that the fire was suspicious. “I am convinced that the fire was started by a human. We are going on the assumption that it was intentional,” said investigator Jack Ward. No one was charged with a crime in connection with the fire.

Firefighter Maurice Gates, age 21, was an 18-month member of the Columbus Division of Fire. As a child, Maurice wanted to become either a firefighter or a pilot. After winning a scholarship to a college-prep high school in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, he returned home, attended Ohio Wesleyan University, and studied business administration and art at Bliss College while working in the Doctors Hospital North pharmacy. In March of 1981, Maurice joined the Fire Division and he assigned to Fire Station 10 in July 1982. He was a resident of the Franklinton section of the city and was survived by his mother, Callie Scales. Gates was buried at Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus.

A granite memorial marker honoring the young firefighter has been placed in front of Fire Station 10 that is dedicated to Maurice Gates.

The gymnasium at the Columbus Fire Academy has been named the Maurice Gates Memorial Gymnasium in honor of the young fallen firefighter.

The name of Firefighter Maurice Gates has been honored at the Columbus Firefighters Memorial, a monument commemorating firefighters who died while serving the city, was erected in 1958 in Battelle Riverfront Park that features an eternal flame on top of four fluted Greek columns.

The name of Firefighter Maurice Gates has been honored at the Ohio Police and Fire Memorial Park in Downtown Columbus. The park is north of Town Street just east of Third Street and features a sculpture by Ronald Dewey, engraved bricks, pavers, and benches.

The name of Firefighter Maurice Gates has been inscribed on the 1982 plaque displayed at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial on the campus of the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

The site of the fatal fire is now occupied by a parking area. There is no memorial marker at the site.

Commentary:

Fire control operations in large open area buildings such as warehouses, big-box and department stores, manufacturing plants, and aircraft hangers pose significant challenges to firefighters. Maintaining orientation is critical to firefighter safety and survival while operating in such structures. Large open area buildings often have high undivided ceiling areas where great volumes of smoke and high heat can accumulate above the heads of unsuspecting interior firefighters. The structure involved in this incident was equipped with a wood truss roof assembly. While the exact configuration of this roof system is unknown, it is likely that a large undivided truss loft space was present in the building. Large voids spaces created by wood truss roof assemblies provide an area above the heads of unsuspecting firefighters where great amounts of heat, smoke and unburned fire gases can accumulate, waiting only for the right ignition source or introduction of additional air to ignite, sometimes explosively, resulting in a flashover or smoke explosion that can disorient or trap interior firefighters. Early search and fire control operations may begin under light smoke and heat conditions that often deteriorate rapidly trapping firefighters sometimes hundreds of feet from an exit. The use of large area search techniques such as the use of search rope lines to assist members with maintaining orientation within the burning structure should be deployed early in the operation before conditions change.

We have attached photos from the incident and a detail from the 1950 Sanborn fire insurance map showing the configuration of the warehouse and the surrounding exposures.

We have attached an article on search rope basics for large area structures by John Miles and John Tobin published in Fire Engineering magazine: https://www.fireengineering.com/firefighting/search-rope-basics-for-large-areas/\

We have also included the link to a Fire Engineering continuing education course on rope-assisted search procedures in large area structures authored by Michael Mason: https://ricofirerescue.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/FERASParticlelarge-area-structure.pdf

And we have also included the link to a Fire Engineering magazine article by group member William Mora on firefighter disorientation in enclosed structures: https://www.fireengineering.com/leadership/understanding-and-solving-firefighter-disorientation/

Thanks to multiple media sources for the content of this article.

Honor the service of Firefighter Maurice Gates by touring a large storage warehouse occupancy located in your local response district and practicing large area search techniques with your crew members today.

Remember Fallen Brothers.

Get Out There And Know Your Local!!!