The U.S. Fire Administration has announced the official on-duty death of Fire Police Captain Merle L. Nell, 78, of the Volunteer Fire Company of Vernon on November 26, 2016.
After becoming ill while working on a mutual aid fire call with his fire department, Fire Police Captain Nell passed away in the hospital from a nature and cause of fatal injury still to be reported.
Tribute is being paid to Captain Nell at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/
To date, 77 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2016. Year-to-date and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/ff_fatality_reports.html
Fatality status is provisional and may change as USFA contacts State Fire Marshals to verify fatality incident information.
