The layers of apparent truth behind the facts related to the death of Watertown (NY) Firefighter Recruit Peyton Morse continues to be peeled back. And that's good. After all, he, his family and his department just wanted him to get the needed training to become a career Firefighter in Watertown.
A reasonable request being that the State Fire Academy exists for that purpose.
However, according to new reports, as Peyton Morse (experienced as a volunteer Firefighter and fire officer prior to being hired in Watertown) lay unconscious on the floor of the firefighter training school, his instructors leaned over him, yelling, asking Morse if he was quitting. That’s according to other Firefighter recruits who were there, and who talked to state investigators.
As you know, Morse died in the Line of Duty last March, after being overcome while training at the state Fire Academy in Montour Falls. His death has raised numerous questions about how that training is conducted, and whether Peyton Morse’s death could have been avoided.
Using the state Freedom of Information Law, a local news channel,.7 News obtained a copy of the state investigation into Morse’s death. While many names, and some information, have been blacked out, the report they received gives the most vivid picture to date of what happened on March 3, 2021.
Morse was overcome while completing the last in a series of obstacles, essentially, exercises in learning how to get out of difficult and life threatening situations. While going through the ‘box obstacle,’ Morse struggled, but couldn’t get through. At one point, he stopped moving and instructors had to pull him part-way through the obstacle.
When out, Morse was unconscious and turning blue.
Instructors have denied ever hearing Morse say he couldn’t breathe, and one official told investigators “At no time did I believe, or have reason to believe, that he was not breathing or breathing adequately.”
Recruits who witnessed what happened after Morse was out of the obstacle seemed shocked by what happened...and had very different accounts from some instructors
“His body was limp and he was not talking. Instructors were yelling at him at the top of their lungs and were asking him if he was quitting,” one of them told investigators in a statement.
“After some time, they realized he wasn’t breathing.” Wrote another: “It was hard to watch these instructors yell at a recruit as he is not breathing.” “One of the worse things I have seen in my life. ”A third wrote ““Peyton had been struggling for 8 -10 mins.” “He stated ‘I cannot breathe.” ...“He was not taken seriously.’
And another recruit said there is a larger problem.
He wrote: “The entire point of me coming here, the entire reason my department is paying for me to be here is to learn how to be a firefighter. I am not here to be treated like sh**. Yelling at students at the top of their lungs and pushing them to the brink is an environment that is not conducive to learning. In the three short weeks we have sent four people to the hospital, one of which was in cardiac arrest.
“The administration of this academy should be ashamed.”
Morse was taken by an academy van from the Fire Academy with no pulse. He died nine days later in a Pennsylvania hospital. The official cause of death was “anoxic brain injury (the brain being starved of oxygen) due to cardiac arrest (heart failure) as a consequence of physical exertion during...training”
State investigators (fox watching the henhouse?) concluded “no violations of occupational safety and health standards have been identified in this investigation,” though they did urge the Fire Academy to change some of its procedures.....
However...a separate investigation by New York State Police is ongoing as well as professional outside private investigations as well.
And as a final note, the NY Governor was asked to lower flags for a day to honor his Line of Duty Death this month commemorating one year. For months, Mr. and Mrs. Morse had tried to get Gov. Hochul to acknowledge their son’s death. They’re angered that she's ignoring their emails, phone calls and social media posts and officially declined to honor the flag request
In an email, Mr. Morse called the governor “a coward,” saying that she’s not a leader....as she refuses to honor the fallen Firefighter...who died under the watch of the State Fire Academy ... that she oversees. More here: https://tinyurl.com/mr26mp42 & https://tinyurl.com/2p9cyara