The U.S. Fire Administration has announced the official on-duty death of Lieutenant Matthew Blankenship, 38, of the Marshfield Fire Protection District, on July 20, 2013.
Lieutenant Blankenship passed away from injuries one week after sustaining burns over 75 percent of his body resulting from a flashover of a fire in the basement of a two-story residential structure. Blankenship had been in a medically induced coma at the hospital since he suffered the injuries. Two other firefighters injured in the same incident were treated at the hospital and released. The fatal incident remains under investigation by local authorities and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Tribute is being paid to Lieutenant Matthew Blankenship at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/
To date, 67 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2013. Year-to-date and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/fatalityData/statistics
Fatality status is provisional and may change as USFA contacts State Fire Marshals to verify fatality incident information.
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