Today2 firemen trapped 10 minutes
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A Shippensburg firefighter died Monday after part of a old house collapsed on him and two others as they battled a fire in Huntingdon County.
Keith Hess, 22, of the 9800 block of Possum Hollow Road, was a volunteer with West End Fire and Rescue Co. and a paid EMT and firefighter for Fannett Metal Fire Department in Dry Run.
Franklin County Coroner Jeff Conner said Hess was on duty with Fannett Metal about 3 p.m. Monday when he responded to a structure fire at 246 Hotel Road in Blairs Mills.
Chimney collapses
Conner said Hess was performing "salvage and overhaul" on the first floor with Shippensburg firefighters Cory Connelly, 30, and Dave Ocker, 20, about 5 p.m., after the fire had been brought under control, when a chimney in the center of the structure collapsed.
One man was able to escape on his own while the other two, including Hess, had to be rescued, the coroner said.
Connelly and Ocker are members of Shippensburg's Cumberland Valley Hose Co., which issued a press release saying the firefighters were trapped about 10 minutes. Connelly, who is assistant chief of the company, and Ocker were treated and released at Chambersburg Hospital.
State police investigator Daniel Sneath says there were "a multitude" of firefighters inside the building at the time of the collapse.
Despite "heroic efforts" of fellow firefighters and EMS and the crew of Hershey Life Lion, Conner said, Hess was declared dead at Chambersburg Hospital at 6:07 p.m.
The official cause of his death is "compressional asphyxia" — suffocation. The exact manner of his death remains "undetermined," officials say.
Blairs Mills is about 19 miles northwest of Shippensburg and 30 miles west of Carlisle.
State police trooper Charles Aungst of the Huntingdon barracks reports the fire was at the intersection of Hotel Road and Tuscarora Creek Road in Tell Township. Police say the building is owned by Kimberly Burdge of Blairs Mills.
Fannett-Metal and West End were among 11 stations responding.
Investigation into the fire's cause continues through the state police fire marshal and state police.
