The Worcester fire is the country's second deadliest this decade in terms of firefighters killed. On July 6, 1994, 14 firefighters died battling a blaze on South Canyon mountain near Glenwood Springs, Colo.

The blaze seemed so non-threatening that firefighters didn't bother to put on their masks as they swept through the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse shortly after 6:15 p.m. on Dec.3, 1999. Soon, all that would change. The building would quickly envelop the men inside with thick, boiling smoke, poisonous fumes and flames that would reach more than 3,000 degrees...