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Mount Vernon Firefighter Dies on the Job

Posted on Dec 13, 2011

A 54 year old Mount Vernon firefighter was in the middle of battling a house fire when he collapsed at the scene and died early Thursday. Kevin Townes was getting ready to enter the home to battle the blaze when he suffered a heart attack.

Ambulance workers and other medical personnel on the scene pulled Townes from the fire and worked to revive Townes after he went down but were unsuccessful.

Townes was a 25-year member of the fire department and a resident of Pleasant Valley in Dutchess County. In addition to his firefighter work, he was also a certified code enforcement officer under the New York code. He was assigned to Fire Station 4 located on Oak Street.

There were twenty-two firefighters responding to the Lorraine Avenue fire around 2:43 am. The fire was reported on a single-family home after someone smelled smoke. The fire began in the basement of the home.

Townes operated the third fire engine to arrive at the scene. He was able to pull on his safety gear and was in the process of entering the house to fight the fire. Before he could get in, Townes collapsed into the bushes around the home. CPR was administered by EMTs on the scene and Townes was reported to sit up briefly before collapsing again. He failed to respond to subsequent shocks from a defibrillator. Townes was pronounced dead at Mount Vernon Hospital.