The Associated Press

STILLWATER, Okla.  — Officials say a volunteer firefighter from Bartlesville who was participating in training at Oklahoma State University died following a burn exercise.

OSU spokesman Gary Shutt says Barnsdall firefighter Rusty Topping collapsed inside the OSU Fire Service Training Center 45 minutes after the exercise on Saturday.

Shutt says the 28-year-old Topping was discovered unresponsive at 6:10 p.m. as his class was preparing to leave for the day.

He says OSU's fire service training staff performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrived and transported Topping to the Stillwater Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Shutt says the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association is investigating the incident, the first of its kind in the more than 70-year history of the program.

Bartlesville City Manager Ed Gordon says Topping also was an employee of the city's water distribution department.

Gordon says Topping and his wife, Billie Jo, were expecting a child.