HUNTINGTON -- One woman called seeing smoke. Another urged dispatchers to "get here quick" as she found her way out of the smoke-filled Emmons Jr. apartment fire.

But the Jan. 13, 2007, apartment fire already was well on its way toward becoming the city's worst fire in more than 50 years. It resulted in nine deaths, including three Marshall University students.

Huntington Fire Lt. John Lang was the first officer on the scene. His colleagues do not talk much about the tragedy. He said it comes up in conversation from time to time, such as when new firefighters come onto the department.

"For everybody on the job, that's was probably the biggest fire that we had ever seen," he said. "We're here to save people, which we did. We saved a lot of people, but anytime you lose anybody that sticks with you."

Investigators never determined what sparked the blaze.

The apartment complex consisted of two structures -- the Emmons Jr. and Emmons Sr. buildings. It was located in the 1200 block of 3rd Avenue. Both buildings were eventually demolished.

Lang and two privates arrived on Engine No. 1. The trio saw fire coming from two second-story windows. Flames had spread into the hallway by the time they entered.

The crew realized the fire's magnitude when it exited to exchange air bottles. By that time smoke was coming other places and the deputy fire chief was calling for more trucks.

Lt. Aaron Williams rushed to the fire on board Ladder No. 2. It parked on the southeast corner of the building. His crew saw people hanging out the windows as their truck approached.

Lang returned inside. He found himself on the upper floors of the two-building complex. He remembers climbing stairwells and fighting through heavy smoke to rescue unconscious victims. He carried them out, but everything happened so fast that he does not know if they survived.

Talking about that night is still difficult a year later. He still remembers physical toll and the sight of the victims.

"The image is just the helplessness of some of the people," he said. "There really wasn't a whole lot of time for any shock or anything to set in. You had a job to do. To do what you were trained to do -- to try to rescue as many people as you could."

The Emmons fire started about 11 p.m. It was an unseasonably warm night, 55 degrees, with light rain.

The 911 recording included at least one mention of a ladder not working properly. Williams remembers those difficulties, but he said it did not slow the rescue effort. He said no firefighter had time to be frustrated because there was too much on the line. The crew instantly switched to ground ladders.

"Everyone we had noted that was at the windows when we pulled up got rescued," he said. "It didn't matter, ground ladder or truck ladder, we were going to get them out of there and we did."

It didn't take much for the huge plume of smoke to attract a large crowd. The city was already bustling with people, including those at local nightclubs and others who had just left the Toughman competition at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena. They were quickly joined by other onlookers who simply flocked to the scene.

Salvation Army Capt. Bob Mullins watched the community come together that night. His headquarters was located next door. He saw the meticulous search and investigation that followed. Then he witnessed a wrecking crew knock down both buildings.

"It was one of those things that just prove that the city of Huntington is what it is," he said. "It is a lot of people who care, a lot of people who put their lives on the line every day, and a lot of people who help those in tragedy through their donations and through their prayers."

The tragedy required a massive rescue effort. Crews filled part of a neighboring parking lot with stretchers as ambulances lined 3rd Avenue.

Emergency crews from Wayne County and Boyd County, Ky., responded to the fire, along with others from Lawrence and Gallia counties in Ohio. Kanawha and Putnam counties contributed resources to cover routine calls in Cabell County.

It took nearly 48 hours for crews to recover all the bodies and locate everyone who had been inside. Still, they initially held out a possibility that others could be inside. That diminished when nobody else was reported missing.

The building was unstable, and Huntington Fire Chief Greg Fuller compared the search to a mining operation as he said, "You dig a little bit and shore up behind you a little bit."

The investigation pulled state and federal resources. They didn't clear the scene until Jan. 17. They determined the fire started in a living room closet inside apartment No. 103. They ruled out several causes, such as a methamphetamine lab, but they never pinpointed the cause.

Assistant State Fire Marshal Reed Cook said investigators still follow leads today.

But Fuller admits the cause may never be known. He said there is a strong probability the fire started in an overstuffed chair. Fuller said smoking is "an obvious first suspect," but there is no definitive evidence to prove that.

Many of the firefighters received counseling in the days and weeks following the tragic fire. Lang said camaraderie from that night has lived on, especially for his fellow firefighters who worked 'B' shift that evening.

"Everybody was concerned about everybody else's welfare and well being," he said. "We really came together as a department."

The deceased victims were Joseph Szilvasi; Briar Harmon, 40; Mary Biss, 69; Ann F. Saleh and her 7-year-old son, Seth Justus; Beatrice Devore Yancey, 45; and siblings Ben Lucas, 19, Angel Lucas, 17, and Quentin Lucas, 14.

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