| On January 20th, 2003, Fannett-Metal Fire and Ambulance Company, Inc along with mutual aid companies responded to a fire in Blairs Mills. Firefighters arrived to find the second floor of the structure well involved in fire. After interior fire attack operations failed to confine the fire, operations were shifted to a defensive attack and exterior streams were used to knockdown the main body of fire. Firefighters then re-entered the structure to complete extinguishment. Firefighter Hess was performing overhaul on the first floor when an interior chimney fell causing a structural collapse. Hess and two other firefighters became trapped under the debris of the chimney and second floor. Hess was removed from the collapse within ten minutes and was transported via helicopter to a regional hospital where he was pronounced dead. Fire investigators later determined the origin and cause of the fire was faulty electrical wiring. |
