CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – City officials joined members of the Charleston Fire Department and Charleston International Association of Firefighters Local 317 on Monday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Woolworth building fire, an incident which resulted in the largest loss of life in the history of the Charleston Fire Department.
Located on the corner of Quarrier and Capitol streets in Charleston, the Woolworth’s is said to have caught fire in the early morning hours of March 4, 1949.
The Charleston Fire Department was among the entities to have responded, with seven CFD members ultimately having lost their lives in the blaze and a minimum of fifteen others being injured during the response – two firefighters critically so.
The incident, at the time it occurred, had been responsible for the highest number of casualties sustained by a fire department combating a blaze in the state – a distinction which still stands in the present day.
Those who lost their lives in the tragic accident were memorialized through a bronze marker which hangs on the building at the location of their passing.
There, officials and first responders gathered on Monday to pay their respects and to commemorate the sacrifice of those lost in the blaze.
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City of Charleston commemorates 75th anniversary of Woolworth Building Fire
