SAUGERTIES, N.Y. — Officials have deemed a chimney fire that killed a 19-year-old volunteer firefighter accidental.
Newly elected Capt. Jack Rose, with the Mount Marion (N.Y.) Fire Department, died from smoke inhalation, according to a joint statement by New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control and Saugerties Police Department.
After OFPC investigators evaluated the structure, they determined the fire originated within the structure’s south wall. They also classified the cause as accidental, involving the heating system, a wood stove, situated along that wall, according to Hudson Valley News Network.
The investigations into the events leading up to the death of Capt. Jack Rose is still under investigation. His cause of death, however, has been determined to be a result of inhalating superheated gases, leading to irreversible respiratory failure that resulted in cardiac arrest.
The police department and officials from the state Department of Labor are continuing their investigation.