The U.S. Fire Administration has announced the official on-duty death of Firefighter Kody Vanfossan, 24, of the Christopher Fire Department on May 5, 2019.
Firefighter Kody Vanfossan responded to a multi-alarm two-story vacant structure fire in Christopher, Illinois. Upon arrival, heavy smoke could be seen coming out of the top floor of the structure. Vanfossan, along with a second firefighter, began an interior attack on the fire. An additional firefighter later called for the two firefighters to exit the building. As the two firefighters started down steps in the rear of the building, the steps collapsed. While the second firefighter was able to make it out of the building, a Mayday was issued for Vanfossan. Vanfossan was recovered from the building and placed into an ambulance where he was pronounced deceased. Investigation into the incident continues.
Tribute is being paid to Firefighter Vanfossen at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/
To date, 15 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2019. Year-to-date and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/ff_fatality_reports.html
Fatality status is provisional and may change as USFA contacts State Fire Marshals to verify fatality incident information.
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