David Fischer
Assistant Fire Chief
Sturgis Volunteer Fire Department
Sturgis, South Dakota
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Status: Volunteer
Years of Service: 22
Date of Incident: Sept. 7, 2018
Date of Death: Sept 7, 2018
At approximately 4 p.m. on Sept. 7, Assistant Fire Chief David Fischer responded with the Sturgis Volunteer Fire Department and other local first-responders to a residential structure fire in Tilford, South Dakota. Upon arrival, firefighters found a single-family home that was fully involved in fire. The intense fire ignited several outbuildings on the property and threatened nearby propane tanks.
Firefighters made their initial attack, sent out a mutual aid call, and evacuated nearby residents. Soon after, responders were informed of a resident that was unaccounted for and last seen in the involved residence. As firefighters continued to fight the fire and attempted to locate the missing resident, a nearby propane tank experienced a catastrophic failure causing a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion, or BLEVE. The explosion instantly killed Fischer. In addition, the remains of the missing resident, an 82 year-old male, were found the following morning.
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