The investigation into the death of Watertown Firefighter Peyton Morse now rests solely in the hands of New York’s Violent Crimes Unit, reports wwnytv.com, which recently took over the case from the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
This serves as the first real action in the case since the fatal March 3 training incident at the State Fire Academy in Montour Falls, the report says. Following an autopsy, Morse’s cause of death was an anoxic brain injury, cardiac arrest, and consequence of physical exertion from the use of a breathing apparatus during the training exercise.
The fire academy has been questioned in the past for pushing firefighters too hard, according to the report, and even received a formal letter of concern from a Rochester-area fire department in March of last year.
A private investigator, state police, and an agency within the State Department of Labor have already investigated.
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