Pair of Fayette County firefighters killed in mechanical lift accident, police say

Two longtime fire officials in Fayette County were killed Saturday morning after they were involved in an accident outside the Concord-Green Fire Department, according to the Fayette County Sheriff's Office.

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center received a call at 11:05 a.m. of an overturned mechanical lift with injuries outside the fire department in the Village of Staunton. First responders arriving on scene identified the victims in the overturned lift as Concord-Green Fire Chief Ralph Stegbauer and Fire Capt. Jeffery Skaggs.

Both sustained fatal injuries in the accident and were pronounced dead at the scene by Fayette County Coroner Dr. Lenora Fitton.

Police said the initial investigation revealed that Stegbauer and Skaggs were operating the lift to make repairs to the radio tower outside the firehouse when the lift tipped over, ejecting both of them from the tower basket from several feet in the air.

Fayette County Sheriff's Office is continuing its investigation of the accident with assistance from the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction team.

The initial first responders to the scene were the fellow firefighters of Stegbauer and Skaggs from Concord-Green Fire Department. They were assisted at the scene by members of 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. Calls for service in the Concord and Green townships will be covered by the surrounding fire agencies in the county.

In honor of the lives of the two firefighters, Gov. Mike DeWine ordered all U.S. and Ohio Flags to be flown at half-staff upon all public buildings and grounds throughout Fayette County, the Ohio Statehouse, the Vern Riffe Center, and the Rhodes State Office Tower, according to a news release. The order will remain until sunset on the day of their funerals, which has yet to be announced.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Police: Fayette County firefighters die in mechanical lift accident