9 Firefighters die in "tornado of flames"

Whenever I see a story like this it reminds me of when I was teenager and witnessed my first REAL fire. I sat on the street and watched a 5-Alarm blaze gut the historic YMCA in downtown Newburyport. I remember the heat coming off the building, the flames shooting a hundred feet above the four-story roof, the smells, and the sounds of the building buckling under the heat.

A local man died in that fire. I watched from a few hundred feet away and the power of the fire was simply terrifying. While this enormous structure was burning in front of me like a newly lit bonfire, there were firefighters actually running into the building to look for people. It’s hard to convey in words, it was like they were entering into hell. I could see them walk into the flames and vanish.

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