CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Firefighters from far afield descended on Charleston to attend a memorial service yesterday for nine of their own killed in a furniture store blaze.As a gesture of solidarity, medics from the Framingham, Massachusetts, Fire Department hung their department T-shirt at a makeshift memorial outside the charred rubble of the Sofa Super Store on Thursday.

Mourners gathered to commiserate and pray, as they have since Monday when the fire blew out windows and collapsed the roof of the building in the nation’s deadliest firefighting tragedy since September 11.

At the North Charleston Coliseum, workers set up hundreds of blue folding chairs to seat the thousands expected to attend the service.

Among those expected were former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — both presidential candidates — as well as Barbara Richardson, wife of Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is also running.

Firefighters from as far away as Arizona and Alberta, Canada, were also expected, said Jeff Zack, a spokesman for the International Association of Firefighters. He expressed concern that the politicians’ presence could skew the focus of the event.

“This event is about the firemen who were lost — honouring them and their families. It is not a political event and shouldn’t be politicised in any way,” he said.

South Carolina Firefighters Association president Joe Palmer said dignitaries would be seated at the back of the room, well away from firefighters’ families.

The city’s mayor and fire chief and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford were expected to speak during the service. Firefighters from New York City and Indianapolis planned to perform the national anthem, “Amazing Grace,” and other songs.

The ceremonies were to get under way with a procession of some 100 fire trucks from various departments winding its way past the gutted store and several city firehouses.

Yesterday was declared a day of mourning in Charleston, and most city offices were to stay closed.

Officials on Thursday released tapes of several 911 calls regarding the fire. While federal investigators have not confirmed where the fire started, some of the 10 recordings bolster the assertion several city fire officials made that it likely started at the back of the store in a covered space between the showroom and a warehouse crammed with furniture.

A store employee told The Associated Press that workers frequently smoked cigarettes in that area, but were strongly cautioned to carefully throw them away.

Federal investigators have not discussed possible causes for the fire, and have not revealed if they are considering whether a cigarette could have started the blaze.

“We have made fantastic progress in this investigation, however, it still has to be a very systematic, deliberate investigation,” said Earl Woodham, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.