‘Worcester 6’ honored with exhibit on 25th anniversary of deadly fire

WORCESTER, Mass. (WLNE) — It’s been 25 years since six Worcester firefighters lost their lives fighting the “cold storage warehouse fire.”

On Dec. 3, 1999, the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building caught fire after two homeless people inside of the warehouse started fighting and knocked over a candle.

Lt. Thomas Spencer, Lt. James Lyons, Paul Brotherton, Timothy Jackson, Jeremiah Lucey and Joseph McGuirk lost their lives looking for those homeless people, who were still believed to be inside of the burning building at the time.

The Worcester Fire Department hosted the exhibit on Tuesday to honor the six lives lost in 1999.

“I think it’s an important tribute to all of the brothers in the fire department and I think it’s a great way of reflecting back on something that was a dark time for the city,” Worcester Fire Department Lieutenant Stephen Kelly said.

Many Worcester residents paid their respects.

“Today is the 25th anniversary and we were explaining to the girls what we were doing that day and what happened. We want them to understand what it takes to be a fireman,” said Worcester resident, Deanna Ducharme.

A ceremony for the ‘Worcester 6’ is set for Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the fire station, and the exhibit will be open until Wednesday at 2 p.m.