Remembering the Charleston Nine: 7 Years Later

Today marks the 7th Anniversary of the tragic Sofa Super Store fire in West Ashley. The blaze took the lives of nine Charleston firefighters. At the time, it was the worst firefighting tragedy since the September 11th attacks in 2001.

Be sure to take a moment to pause and remember the 9 people lost that day:

• Captain Mike Benke
• Captain William “Billy” Hutchinson
• Captain Louis Mulkey
• Bradford “Brad” Baity
• Melvin Champaign
• James “Earl” Drayton
• Michael French
• Mark Kelsey
• Brandon Thompson

A remembrance ceremony is will be held today at 7 pm at the former Sofa Super Store site at 1807 Savannah Highway. The public is invited to attend.

Here are some stories related to the tragedy:

• Timeline from June 18th, 2007.
• Lowcountry preparing to honor Charleston 9 on 7th anniversary of fatal fire (Live 5 News).
• ESPN’s Outside The Lines chronicles Louis Mulkey (Video).
• Community prepares for Charleston 9’s 7th anniversary (ABC News 4).
• Crew, family members to hold ceremony for Charleston 9 (ABC News 4).
• Charleston 9 Documentary Released Online.

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