USFA LODD: Connecticut Firefighter On-Duty Death Notification 03.27.2019

Firefighter/Paramedic James “Woody” Woodman, 55, was a member of Recruit Class #15 at the Connecticut State Fire Academy. Only two days after being out of the academy, on October 5, 1999, Firefighter/Paramedic Woodman was part of an ambulance crew transporting a child who had been struck by a vehicle to the Yale-New Haven Hospital. As they neared the hospital, the ambulance was broadsided by a bus and rolled over multiple times. Firefighter/Paramedic Woodman sustained a traumatic brain injury that resulted in his living in a long-term care facility until his death on March 29, 2019. The child who was being transported and other crew members of the ambulance were seriously injured but have all made complete recoveries.

  

Our condolences to the Woodman Family & Friends, West Haven Fire Department, and to all affected by Firefighter/Paramedic James “Woody” Woodman’s passing.     

   

To date, 10 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2019. 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.)