The U.S. Fire Administration has announced the official on-duty death of Chief Edward Switalski, 55, of the Comstock Township Department of Fire & Rescue on June 14, 2017.
Chief Edward Switalski responded with the Comstock Township Department of Fire & Rescue to a reported motor vehicle accident on Eastbound I-94 near mile marker 81 at approximately 2230hrs. Upon arrival, they found an empty vehicle and no injuries to report. As fire crews were getting ready to leave the scene, a passing vehicle lost control and struck Chief Switalski, who was standing at the rear of his rescue vehicle returning equipment to service. Crews at the scene tried to revive him, but were not successful. Chief Switalski was pronounced dead at the scene.
Tribute is being paid to Chief Switalski at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/
To date, 49 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2017. 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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