Wtvr Richmond Make Mike Great Again

Abril 04, 2022 Mag-post ng isang Komento

Saturday, March 19, 2022, marks the 40th anniversary of a burn down that killed a Petersburg fire fighter Mike Goff and nearly cost the city its entire downtown.

PETERSBURG, Va. -- Saturday, March 19, 2022, marks the 40th anniversary of a fire that killed a Petersburg firefighter Mike Goff and most cost the urban center its entire downtown.

For those who were there, the day is remembered equally a nightmare.

"Every second. It was yesterday. You know, in your minds, it was just yesterday," retired Petersburg Fire Captain Glenn Dean said. "You can still encounter the scene. You can still see what you were doing and what was happening effectually you."

Fifty-fifty earlier firefighters arrived at the called-for three-story building on the corner of Franklin and Sycamore Streets, they knew information technology was a serious fire.

"When we pulled up on the scene, on the second and 3rd floor, there were residents in the windows with flashlights and handkerchiefs," retired Petersburg Fire Captain Jimbo Rice said. "It was a big fire, black smoke rolling across Sycamore Street."

However, none of the firefighters knew only how bad things would get that day.

Dean recalled spotting 78-year-one-time Daisy Houchins on a balcony.

"I looked down to see what we were doing and I looked back up and she was gone, the balcony and everything was gone," he said.

At least ten nearby stores were damaged from the three explosions.

"I was standing in front of the building and I could run into coming through the building, this huge wall of blue fire and that's when the whole edifice blew similar an atomic bomb," Rice said.

One of the firefighters on the scene that fateful twenty-four hour period was Sergeant Mike Goff.

"Mike came in on Truck Two from the Walnut Hill Station," Rice remembered.

Helm Rice immediately put him to work.

"I assigned him to ladder the building and to assist with rescues," Rice said.

Then - the last explosion hit.

"The explosion wiped out our entire shift," Rice said.

At least 25 people suffered injuries, including firemen, the burn chief, policemen, and citizens. Most xix of them were treated at the nearby Petersburg Full general Hospital.

The valiant efforts of firefighters from six different burn down departments were credited with saving downtown Petersburg.

"Without the assistance of common aid assistance, we may have lost our entire downtown strip and information technology'due south not an exaggeration," Jack Bail, Petersburg's urban center manager in 1982, said.

"Very true, very true. I mean, could have wiped out the entire cake of Sycamore Street," Rice said.

At the time, the expected damages came out to over $3 one thousand thousand.

Just as the burn was brought under command, firefighters realized that one of their own was missing.

"A while subsequently that, news came beyond Mike was found and confirmed that he didn't make it," Dean said.

It's at present four decades later and Sergeant Goff hasn't been forgotten.

"He had this express joy that no i could imitate, information technology was but unbelievable. I think well-nigh Mike quite oftentimes, specially certain things that happen throughout my life," Southside Virginia Emergency Crew (SVEC) captain of volunteers said.

"I think that was the biggest part well-nigh Mike, more so than the burn down service itself. Mike loved helping people. That was his primary goal in life," Beemer added.

Simply hours after the explosion, Beemer was assigned to drive the firetruck that Mike Goff had driven to the burn back to the fire station. It was the most difficult assignment of his career.

"It was almost a guilty feeling that I was the one bringing that truck dorsum to that station knowing that he was left behind and not knowing where he was at the time," Beemer said.

Mike's death rippled through the local burn community, leaving many with shattered hearts.

"Information technology wasn't only a firewoman killed, it was a friend. I mean, a dear friend to all of usa that was killed in the line of duty. It was but devastating," Bish said.

"Ane of the most heartbreaking things I've always had to get through in my entire life. Knowing that I had just seen him live that forenoon and laughing and carrying on. Good conversation with him and simply knowing I was going to see him the next day when I came into work and I never saw him again," Beemer said.

The funeral procession went on for miles every bit first responders and civilians honored the man and then many knew and loved.

Shortly after his decease, friends and family wanted to come up with a way to honour Goff. They raised money for a scholarship fund bearing his name that is still given abroad to this mean solar day.

Scout CBS 6 senior reporter Wayne Covil's Wayne's World reports every Wednesday on CBS 6 News at 11 p.m. If y'all know someone Wayne should feature, email him at wcovil@wtvr.com

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