Former general counsel for the International Association of Fire Fighters details the perfect fire storm that ended in tragedy

ARLINGTON, VA , Feb. 6, 2023  /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- On June 18th, 2007, at 7:07p.m., a 911 call came into dispatch at the Charleston City Fire Department reporting a major structure fire at a discount furniture store, called Sofa Super Store. 16 firefighters went inside to confront the fast-moving flames, and only seven made it back out. In the "Last Alarm: The Charleston 9" author Thomas A. Woodley details how nine brave firefighters battled the blaze and died doing their duty, and the heart-wrenching impact their loss had on the families, friends, and community.

Woodley is a retired litigation lawyer who spent over four decades representing firefighters and emergency medical service workers. He combined his vast familiarity with firefighters and countless hours of research to show how multiple problems led to the tragic outcome.

"I had the benefit of a collection of many sources;" Woodley said, "documents, agency investigative reports, court deposition transcripts, media accounts, and individual interviews with the Charleston Fire Department personnel."

Woodley, armed with all his findings, shows how life-endangering conditions combined together to create a "perfect fire storm"—a fuel-ladened furniture store that was a ticking time bomb, and a fire department at the time that was under-staffed, ill-equipped, and far below national fire service and safety standards.

Even though the lives of nine firefighters ended that day, their legacy includes lessons to be learned and improvements to be made in adequate staffing, training, proper equipment, and standard operating procedures, as well as treating firefighters suffering from PTSD.

These lessons were not only learned by the Charleston Fire Department, but they reverberated in fire departments throughout the U.S. and Canada.

"Last Alarm: The Charleston 9"
By: Thomas A. Woodley
ISBN: 9781663243881 (softcover); 9781663243898 (hardcover); 9781663243867 (electronic)
Available at iUniverse, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

About the author
Thomas A. Woodley, a labor litigation lawyer who represented firefighters and emergency medical service workers for more than forty years, uses his familiarity with the fire service to provide a detailed, well-researched, and fact-based account of the Sofa Super Store fire and the tragic deaths of nine firefighters. He formerly served as general counsel of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a union of over 325,000 members.. To learn more, please visit https://www.iuniverse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/839850-last-alarm

Media Contact

Christopher Lopez, Lavidge Company, 4806487539, clopez@lavidge.com

SOURCE Lavidge Company