Ohio firefighters killed in a tower maintenance accident

Concord-Green fire chief Ralph Stegbauer and fire captain Jeffery Skaggs have both passed away while carrying out tower maintenance outside their firehouse in Ohio. Both firefighters were working on the Fayette County, Ohio tower when the mechanical lift they were in overturned.

This accident led both firefighters to sustain fatal injuries, and they were pronounced dead at the scene, according to a press statement issued by the Fayette County, Ohio Sheriff’s Office (FCSO), on Saturday (November 25) at 11:05 am.

Fayette County Sheriff Vernon Stanforth said to the media, “The lift was sitting on a trailer. It was motored in on a trailer, and they left it on there for what reason we don’t know. When they were coming down, it shifted, which caused it to fall off the trailer, and unfortunately, both were killed on impact when they hit the ground.”

The sheriff added that Stegbauer and Skaggs were the only two at the firehouse when it happened before a passerby found the lift on the ground and called for help.