Two Fayette County firefighters dead after 'tragic accident' at their firehouse

Sheridan Hendrix, Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·1 min read
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The Concord-Green Township Fire Department in Fayette County is mourning the loss of two firefighters involved in a heavy machinery Saturday. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Concord-Green Township Fire Department in Fayette County is mourning the loss of two firefighters involved in a heavy machinery Saturday. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

A Fayette County fire department is mourning the loss of two of its own following a "tragic accident" Saturday at its fire house, according to the Fayette County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's office dispatchers received a call just after 11 a.m. Saturday on a report of an overturned mechanical lift with injuries at the Concord-Green Township Fire Department in the Village of Staunton, a few miles south of Washington Court House.

When emergency responders arrived, they found Concord-Green Fire Chief Ralph Stegbauer and Fire Captain Jeffery Skaggs, who were pronounced dead at the scene.

Stegbauer and Skaggs were using the lift to repair the radio tower outside the firehouse when the lift tipped over, ejecting both of them from the basket while several feet in the air, according to the sheriff's office initial investigation. The accident is still under investigation with assistance from the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction team.

The Concord-Green Fire Department is out of service until further notice. Calls for service in Concord and Green townships will be covered by nearby fire departments.

"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 wrote on Facebook.

Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday ordered flags flown at half-staff on government buildings in Fayette County, in addition to the Statehouse, the Vern Riffe Center and the Rhodes State Office Tower, in honor of Stegbauer and Skaggs and remain lowered until sunset on the day of their funerals.

shendrix@dispatch.com

@sheridan120

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Two Fayette County firefighters dead after accident at their firehouse