Hard To Believe It's Been Two Years - We Love And Miss You Brad

How did I keep myself calm and composed on what seemed like such a long drive to be there and to comfort my most dearest friend who had just lost her husband in a horrific fire? "I prayed for you the whole way down", said Monica. "I knew you needed strength and safety in order to make it down to the firehouse in one piece."

Usually I keep the TV on in the kitchen, but for some reason, the night of Monday, June, 18, 2007, I was so busy upstairs that I didn't. I came downstairs and flicked the TV on. There was breaking news: A fire at a furniture store in West Ashley. It looked like the furniture store right around the corner from Heather and Brad's home. It didn't look good, and they said "one man" was down. I immediately called Heather to see if Brad was on duty and at that fire. She had just heard of it and was waiting for the dispatcher at Brad's station to call her back. She sounded so nervous and scared. There was a feeling, a power in the air, that made me uneasy. I knew something bad was happening. I just didn't know how horrible it was going to get.

"Oh, that's the dispatcher!!!", Heather yelled, "I'll call you right back." By 11:15 there was no word from Heather, and the count of fallen firefighters was up to 3! I was a nervous wreck. I just knew Brad was one of them! "What should I do?" I asked my husband. "Call her back," he said. Heather and Brad's 8 year-old daughter answered the phone. She told me Heather was at the fire. Dad was safe, and mom had gone up to see him. She was so happy!! After a few moments I told my husband that didn't sound right. Something was wrong. But I never heard anything else. For some reason I was making home made hot pretzels that night. Now who makes home made hot pretzels at that time of night? Not a norm in our household.

The pretzels were just coming out of the oven when the phone rang. It was Heather!!! But Heather wasn't on the other end!! It was a different familiar voice. "Is this Kristie? Kristie Glascock?" It was Monica's voice, and all my fears were confirmed. Brad was gone! "She wants YOU.", Monica said. "I know this is hard, but you have to stay composed and stay strong for her."

It was almost midnight. The kids were still up, as they knew something very serious was going on with the fire on the TV. I had to leave. I had to make the hardest drive I have ever had to make in my whole entire life. I had to drive down to my most dearest friend, really my sister, who had just lost her firefighter husband in the line of duty. There were 3 of them gone.

I had to get gas. After I got the gas I had to call my dad to help me make that drive down I-26. My parents are in their seventies, they were already in bed. My dad answered right away knowing that no one calls them that late at night. "Dad! There was a horrible fire down in West Ashley! Three firefighters were killed! One of them was Brad!" "Oh my!!!", he said. Now my dad has always loved Brad. The first time my parents, and in fact my husband and I, had ever met Brad was when he and Heather came to the apartment to see our son after he was born. I remember thinking that he wasn't what I was expecting Heather's husband to be. He was a quiet, quiet guy - but over time I would realize that he was someone with so much knowledge in his head that he knew to be quiet and only speak what was worth being said.

It was pitch as black. There were no cars on I-26 except a police car that rode next to me for a while and then sped away. My dad talked to me the whole way down and kept me calm. He kept talking about Brad, and he kept telling me how I had to be strong for Heather. He told me God would make sure I made it there safely for Heather. By the time I got to the Cosgrove exit, you could smell the fire/smoke in the air. I told my dad that. He cringed as he knew how far way that store was from where I was at. The wind was carrying the stench of the fire over the Ashley River.

I got off I-26, and again, there were no cars anywhere! Amazingly, I was able to get right to Station 11 and park. There were groups of people. No one was my group. I didn't recognize anyone. I asked someone who looked official where Brad Baity's family was, and he lead me into the station. There was Heather, on the couch crying and crying with someone. I cannot remember who.

When I walked in, Monica took me aside and told me that they had lost 9 firefighters! NINE?!?!!?? What!?!?!?!? That was unfathomable.

I went over to Heather. All I could do was hold her and stroke her back and her hair. There's nothing you can tell a woman who has lost the love of her life in such a quick instant. I held on to her for dear life and didn't let go.

To the families and friends of Capt. Benke, Capt. Hutchison, Earl Drayton, Louis Mulkey, Mark Kelsey, Melvin Champaigne, Michael French, and Brandon Thompson -- that night forever changed our lives and many of the lives of those that we love dearly. The Charleston 9 will forever be in my heart.