Firefighter Earl J. Shoemaker, 68, March 12, 2016 at 0930hrs, was responding to the scene of a house fire on the 500 block of Pumping Station Road when he became ill. The mobile air unit apparatus he was operating left the roadway (Brunswick DR) and came to a stop several hundred feet away. Firefighter Shoemaker, alone in the apparatus at the time, was rescued by local residents and fellow first responders. Earl J. Shoemaker was then transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased from a cardiac related injury.
To date, 14 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2016. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) Fatality Notices page.
(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)
