The U.S. Fire Administration has announced the official on-duty death of Captain Eric Kohlbauer, 52, of the Freeport Rural Fire Protections District on July 12, 2016.
Captain Kohlbauer was working with other members of his fire department on a pumper relay drill when he suddenly collapsed and fell face forward into a dump tank of water. Fellow responders immediately placed Kohlbauer on the ground and rendered medical aid, including AED. Within minutes, Captain Kohlbauer was transported to the hospital where, despite all best efforts, he succumbed to his injury reported to have been an aortic rupture.
Tribute is being paid to Captain Kohibauer at at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/
To date, 41 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2016. 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.
