Firefighters and their families gathered in Brooklyn for a special Mass to mark the 35th anniversary of a fire at a Waldbaums supermarket in the area that killed six firefighters, reports NY1.
On August 2, 1978, a five-alarm fire tore through a grocery store on Ocean Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, causing the structure’s roof to collapse, killing the six firemen who fell through.
Officials say the store’s secondary, ornamental ceiling had concealed the seriousness of the fire.
The six fatalities were Lieutenant James Cutillo of Battalion 33, Harold F. Hastings of Battalion 42, Charles Bouton and William O’Connor of Ladder Company 156 and James McManus and George Rice of Ladder Company 153.
Another 36 people were injured in the fire.
The victims’ family members who gathered at the yearly Mass at St. Brendan’s Church on Ocean Avenue today said the pain of that day still lingers.
Two retired firefighters who survived the fire, Donald King and Thomas Higgins, were among the attendees.
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