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Church Service Offers Prayers For Firefighters

6 Firefighters Remain Hospitalized

POSTED: 5:43 pm EST March 14, 2004
UPDATED: 5:12 pm EST March 19, 2004

At a Sunday worship service held at the Hillcrest Seventh Day Adventist Church, the congregation from the Ebenezer Baptist Church remembered the Pittsburgh firefighters who were killed and injured in the church fire on Saturday. During the service, prayers were offered for the fallen men and their families.
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The Rev. J.V.A. Winsett, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, stated, "I saw that bell tower as it collapsed and fell on those men and they gave their life. Whisper a prayer for the memory of those firefighters and their families right now."

The Pittsburgh Fire Bureau has identified the fallen firefighters as Battalion Chief Charles Brace, 55, and Firefighter Richard Stefanakis, 51.

More than two-dozen Pittsburgh firefighters were injured during the blaze and building collapse. Six of those firefighters remain hospitalized Sunday evening.

With the help of other neighborhood churches, the Ebenzer Baptist Church plans to rebuild.

Fire officials believe the cause of the fire is electrical but it will take several days to determine the exact cause.

At a press conference on Sunday, city officials stated that a board of inquiry will be established to see if anything could have been done to prevent the deaths and injuries.

The firefighters union is planning a memorial service for this week.


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