Author(s): Sean Flynn

Non-Fiction

Two-Sixty-Six Franklin Street was an address dreaded by the fire-fighters of Worcester, Massachusetts. Six storeys and windowless, the abandoned warehouse was built like a giant chimney: no windows meant no vents to bleed out the heat, no exit for anyone trapped inside. December 3rd 1999 was the day their fears were realised. Within hours, the warehouse had become a lethal firetrap like no other - a deadly cocktail of fierce orange heat, poisonous gases and thick black smoke that reduced visibility to zero. The fire was so hot that water from the hoses evaporated within inches of leaving the nozzle. In one spot, the temperature reached 3600 degrees, twice as hot as inside a crematorium. 'We always win,' Fire Chief McNamee used to say. But this time was different. This time his men weren't fighting fire, they were fighting for their lives...