West Virginia Firefighter Seriously Injured in Two-Story Fall

May 26, 2005
A Stonewood firefighter is in a Morgantown hospital with injuries suffered in a two-story fall from a burning building.

A Stonewood firefighter is in a Morgantown hospital with injuries suffered in a two-story fall from a burning building.

It happened early Wednesday morning at the City Window and Construction building in Summit Park.

Nathan Goff was fighting a fire on the second story of this building, when he fell out a door, two-stories up. Goff is at Ruby Memorial with three fractures in his neck, four broken ribs, a bruised brain and a collapsed lung.

Nathan Goff's accident and the extent of his injuries have his fellow firefighters in shock.

"It was just a heart dropping feeling to see something like that happened," says Summit Park Fire Department's Captain Josh Shingleton.

Goff was battling a blaze from the second story of the building when it happened. The six four, 280 pound firefighter was wearing fifty pounds of equipment when he fell out of a second story door and landed on his right shoulder.

"I just hope everyone put their prayers out for him. We want a full recovery," says Nutter Fort Fire Department's Chief Tom Rohrbough. "We're close knit, all fire departments are. We're all one. We just want everything to be all right."

Goff is a volunteer firefighter. He works as a 911 Dispatcher to pay the bills. Fellow volunteer firefighters say they're not concerned with the pay.

"I do it because I like to give back to my community," Shingleton says. "My community has a done a lot for me and this is my way of giving back."

The community is rallying around a firefighter who risks so much, and asks so little. The 24-year-old is covered by workers' compensation and a private insurance policy that the fire department has. That should cover the rest of his lost wages while he's recovering.

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