Top story 2008: The fire that changed Salisbury

Monday, June 29, 2009 3:06 AM  |  Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend |

Staff report

The distress call came at 9:06 a.m. on March 7.

"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!" Salisbury Fire Capt. Rick Barkley yelled into his radio from inside the burning Salisbury Millwork plant off Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.

That would be followed by other sounds: weeping, prayers, church bells, eulogies.

Firefighters Victor Isler and Justin Monroe died in the inferno that destroyed Salisbury Millwork's facilities. Barkley suffered serious injuries.

Isler, 40, and Monroe, 19, became the first Salisbury firefighters since 1971— and only the second and third in the department's history — to be killed in the line of duty.

The Salisbury Post editorial staff voted the fatal fire and its aftermath the top local news story of 2008.

Salisbury and other fire departments began responding to the fire around 7 a.m. that day, a Friday. Through the early part of the morning, firefighters shifted between offensive and defensive positions and at times seemed to have it contained.

At 9 a.m., Isler, Monroe and Barkley had positioned themselves inside, in an area thought to be protected by firewalls, a city report said. But a nearby floor collapsed, allowing fire to ignite built-up sawdust and engulfing the men in flames.

A rapid response team rescued Barkley. A fire captain pulled Isler out, but he could not be revived on the way to hospital. Attempts to find Monroe had to be abandoned because of deteriorating conditions. A team later recovered Monroe's body.

The city's report also found the firefighters' radios failed during several attempts to communicate with crews stationed outside the burning plant. City officials bought new radio equipment for firefighters and the Fire Department instituted new radio testing procedures, among other changes.

This community and others rallied to support the families of the fallen firefighters and the brotherhood they knew in the fire service. Departments from around the region sent crews to man local stations while firefighters here grieved their loss. Representatives from across the state and New York, where Isler previously served, gathered in Salisbury.

Citizens found a multitude of ways to pay tribute to the men and thousands lined the streets and highways as their bodies were transported to and from Charlotte for autopsies and during the March 13 funeral procession through town.

Every church bell in Salisbury rang out in their honor as their caskets moved toward the Catawba College chapel.