STAUNTON, Ohio — Two longtime Fayette County firefighters are dead after a mechanical lift they were in overturned Saturday morning, according to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.
The accident happened around 11 a.m. outside of the Concord-Green Township Fire Department in the Village of Staunton. Deputies received a call regarding a mechanical lift that overturned resulting in injuries.
First responders identified the victims in the lift as Concord-Green Fire Chief Ralph Stegbauer and Fire Captain Jeffery Skaggs. Both men sustained fatal injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene.
An initial investigation revealed that Skaggs and Stegbauer were using the lift to make repairs to the radio tower outside of the firehouse.
The sheriff’s office said in a release that the lift tipped over and ejected both men from the tower basket from several feet in the air.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the accident with help from the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction team.
Some of the first responders at the scene were fellow firefighters of Stegbauer and Skaggs. They were assisted by the Washington Fire Department, Fayette County EMS and the Fayette County Emergency Management Agency.
The Concord-Green Fire Department was taken out of service until further notice. Emergency calls will be covered by surrounding fire agencies in the county.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Stegbauer and Skaggs families as well as the men and women of the Concord Green Fire Department,” the sheriff’s office shared on Facebook.
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