Joey Gardner, Cary Sallis, John Levy, Darin Roy and Michael Milam are active members of the Oxford Fire Department who responded in the ATO fire of 2004. (Photo/Clara Turnage)
Ten years ago today, the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity caught fire in what would become a tragic loss of life. Today, many of the officers who worked that night still stand as a safeguard of public security at the Oxford Fire Department. Cary Sallis, John Levy, Jon Cullen, Joey Gardener, Michael Milam and Darin Roy remember the event with clarity.
Cary Sallis, fire chief of the Oxford Fire Department, arrived early on the scene.
“I was just really focusing on getting my job done at that time,” Sallis said. “As we moved in, we were trying to figure out if everybody was out that was a big issue.”
Sallis explained that to account for each person who may or may not have been in the building they had to call and personally get in touch with every member of the fraternity.
“In the initial stages, everything is so hectic … it’s hard to get that done,” Sallis said. “We were trying to figure out who’s supposed to be here, and if they aren’t, where are they?”
When it was determined that there were in fact missing individuals, firefighters ventured into the flames to search the home.
“I’m not going to lie: it’s scary, and it’s dark,” said Deputy Chief Joey Gardener, describing what it’s like being inside such a grisly scene. Gardener had been on the force for seven years at the time of the fire and was one of the fighters to venture into the house while it was ablaze.
Many off-duty firemen were called into help extinguish the fire and evacuate the scene.
“When I got there, I saw a big fireball exploding out of the door,” firefighter Jon Cullen said.
“When part of the roof fell, it pushed fire down the stairs and out the door,” Darin Roy, chief of inspections, said, explaining the fireball that Cullen had seen.
Issues with remodeling hindered the firemen, allowing the flame to reach the attic and spread.
“It was pretty severe just because of the type of construction that we were dealing with,” Sallis said. “A lot of these older buildings on University where they had what we call a ‘flat roof.’ They’ve gone back and built up roofs or added on to them, and it just makes it so difficult.”
Sallis explained that the fire was fairly contained until it moved into one of the ‘false attics’ that results from adding on to a previous ‘flat roof.’
“The fire came out of the window of the basement and caught the attic on fire then ran down the attic,” Gardener said. Because of the cement ceiling, this attic was hard to reach and to penetrate for ventilation, allowing the fire to escalate.
“They were trying to ventilate, cutting holes in the roof,” Roy said. “But every time they would ventilate, the fire would have passed the hole.”
The fire decimated the basement, attic and second floor, leaving less damage in the first floor. When the fire had grown to be uncontrollable, it was no longer safe for even the firemen to risk.
“It got too dangerous for us to go back in, and that’s hard to face sometimes too,” Sallis said.
When the flames had been contained enough for the men to reenter, the men began to search the wreckage.
“We had to send people in, and they searched,” Roy said. “As they would find someone, they would let people know downstairs that they had found a victim.”
One of the officers who went to search the house was Michael Milam, whom, at the time, had been with the department for eight years.
“We were going down the hallway opening all of the doors, and we came to this room,” Milam said, recalling in detail. “The door was locked so we pried it open. I walked in. The way the bedrooms were arranged, there was a wall, a foyer, I guess. He was sitting on a couch, a double bunk bed where the bottom was a futon. He was sitting just like I’m sitting right now. He had his head down,” Milam dropped his head to duplicate the scene. “I shined my light around, and it took me by surprise.”
The victim Milam found was on the second floor, where there was little fire damage. “The smoke got him. There wasn’t any fire damage to that room or the floor,” Milam said. “I can only assume, but he was probably asleep and just never woke up. There was a little bit of soot coming out of his nose.”
Though the men see this kind of thing often and are trained to deal with the aftereffects, it is no surprise that they can be greatly affected by such events.
“It’s hard on all of us,” Levy said. “Some have counseling, and some don’t. People deal with it different ways.”
“Especially when it’s a kid or a small child,” Gardener said. “Most of us up here have a child so it affects, especially with the kids.”
“I can still see his face,” Milam said. “I think, from our point of view, you always think ‘maybe we could have done this’ or ‘we could have done this better’ or something differently, but we did what we could do. That’s one thing; you just wish you could have done something more, but you know that you did all you could.”
Three young boys were lost in the fire at Alpha Tau Omega on Aug. 27, 2004. Though the fire was not the worst the veteran firefighters had seen, it was remembered as one of the most heartrending.
“It’s not as bad as it was tragic,” Gardner said. “It was tragic because we realized there were one or more victims inside.”
Though the fire was contained in just over two hours, the damages it caused were lasting.
“You hate to see anybody get hurt, especially in a fire,” Levy said. “It affects people in different ways, but you learn to cope.”
The firemen have learned to work through such tragedies simply because they must. The lives of others depend on it.
