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CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- The Charleston Fire Department is gathering to remember nine firefighters killed while fighting a furniture store blaze.

The department says it's organizing a public memorial Monday at the site of the former flagship location for the Sofa Super Store chain.

It's been five years since the June 2007 fire, which was the largest loss of firefighters since the 2011 terror attacks on the World Trade Center.

The fire is thought to have been started by discarded cigarettes in a loading dock. Fire experts hired by the city concluded that inadequate training, outdated tactics and aging equipment contributed to the deaths.

Sofa Super Store has agreed to pay roughly $1.9 million to settle claims brought by families of those firefighters. The company has since gone out of business.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)