No safety violations in death of N. Indiana firefighter

NEW CARLISLE, Ind. (AP) – Indiana workplace safety officials have found no safety violations in the death of a northern Indiana volunteer firefighter in a roof collapse.

Jamie Middlebrook, the 41-year-old assistant chief of the New Carlisle Volunteer Fire Department, died Aug. 5 after part of a ceiling collapsed on him while he was fighting a fire at K-Fex Excavating & Trucking.

The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokesman Robert Dittmer says the agency’s investigation found all training records and training for firefighters who were involved were “fully up to date.” He says inspectors confirmed all appropriate procedures were followed in fighting the fire.

Middlebrook and another New Carlisle firefighter, Matt O’Donnell, were trying to set up a large hose inside a burning barn when the ceiling collapsed. O’Donnell suffered a broken ankle.