Autopsy Completed on Pennsylvania Firefighter Who May Have Died of Flood-Related Infection
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- An autopsy on a volunteer firefighter who may have died from an infection he contracted from floodwaters was performed Wednesday, but a final ruling on the man's cause of death was delayed pending laboratory tests that could take weeks to complete.
The funeral Mass for John Brenckle, 57, of Ross Township, was held as scheduled Tuesday, but his burial was delayed by an 11th-hour decision to perform an autopsy to try to confirm the theory that bacteria-filled floodwaters infected an open sore on his leg earlier this month.
Brenckle died Thursday at UPMC Passavant hospital.
Chief Deputy Coroner Joseph Dominick said his office didn't originally require the autopsy because the office was first told incorrectly that Brenckle had developed the infection while working at home.
The coroner's office has since learned that Brenckle was directing traffic during the Sept. 17 floods in Ross Township, then worked two more days in the suburbs of Etna and Millvale, which were badly flooded.
Because Brenckle may have gotten the infection when he was working as a fire police officer, his death qualifies as a possible industrial accident, which Dominick said the coroner's office routinely investigates. An autopsy was therefore scheduled for the day after more than 200 people attended Brenckle's funeral Mass and graveside service.
``We explained to the family that this is in their best interest,'' Dominick said.
Brenckle's family would be eligible for more than $330,000 in state and federal death benefits if the autopsy confirms that he died of an infection he contracted in the line of duty.
``It is all contingent on the results of an autopsy,'' State Fire Commissioner Edward Mann said of the benefits.
Edward Brenckle, 57, of Shaler, said his dead cousin had an open wound on his shin due to diabetes. The sore got wet from floodwaters despite boots and other gear John Brenckle wore in the three days he worked in the floodwaters, and he fell ill on Sept. 20, Edward Brenckle told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for Wednesday's editions.
Brenckle had cellulitis, a skin infection that can be fatal for diabetics. Bacteria from sewage that mixed in with the floodwaters likely came into contact with the sore on Brenckle's leg, Dominick said.
``The (county) health department has been very clear on the fact that everyone should be careful to clean anything that comes into contact with floodwater,'' Dominick said.
County health department spokesman Guillermo Cole confirmed that agency is reviewing the case of a diabetic man who died of an infection that occurred when floodwater came into contact with an open wound on his leg. Cole can't comment on whether Brenckle was that man because of confidentiality rules in the health department.
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