Duty Death: Neil B. Cope - [Belle Vernon]
End of Service: 16/07/2019
By FireRescue1 Staff
NORTH BELLE VERNON, Pa. — Gov. Tom Wolf ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff across the state in honor of a firefighter who was found dead in his home after battling a house fire.
Fire Lt. Neil Cope, 46, was found dead in his home after responding to a house fire, 11 News reported. The North Belle Vernon Volunteer Fire Department responded to a mutual aid residential fire in the early hours of the morning. Command officials released the crew after extinguishing the fire 45 minutes later and cleared the scene.
“We were there probably an hour, an hour and fifteen minutes and they controlled the flames. They released us, we came back and left the station probably 2:30 in the morning,” NBVFD Chief Kurt Parshall said.
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Cope returned to his residence that morning and spoke with his wife at 7:30 am. After repeated attempts to get in touch with him again, his wife returned home to find him deceased on the floor of their bedroom.
EMS arrived at the scene, and Cope was pronounced dead at his home. The cause of death is under investigation.