SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.—Federal safety regulators say several factors are to blame for the death of a volunteer firefighter in South Kingstown in June.
The man was killed after his head was pinned between a truck's aerial ladder and part of the station house.
A report released Thursday by The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says 67-year-old Allan LePage using a fire truck's aerial ladder to loosen a pole stuck in the station door when he became pinned. He was alone and not wearing a helmet.
The report says the department didn't have a written policy on use of the aerial ladder and recommends developing one. It also recommends requiring the use of helmets.
Kingston Fire Chief Nathan Barrington tells WPRI-TV they've already started making some of those changes.
