CONRATH, Wis. – A Wisconsin firefighter is in critical condition after a firearm discharged at the scene of a fire, authorities said.
Justin Fredrickson, 35, a 16-year veteran of the Cornell Area Fire Department, is in critical condition, WISN reported.
Fredrickson was part of a crew responding to a structure fire last Friday in the town of Willard, the television station reported. Cornell Area Fire Department Chief Dennis Klass said the Cornell and Sheldon fire departments responded to the blaze, WEAU reported.
Fredrickson was working on a hose line when the heat of the fire caused a loaded firearm inside the structure to discharge, according to WQOW. The bullet hit Fredrickson in the abdomen, the television station reported.
Sheldon emergency medical technicians cared for Fredrickson at the scene before he was transported to a hospital, WEAU reported. He was then airlifted to Mayo Clinic Hospital in Eau Claire and underwent surgery, the television station reported.
Fredrickson had two surgeries and is scheduled for a third procedure later this week, according to WEAU.
“Please keep Justin’s fiancée, his family, and the Cornell and Sheldon Fire Department in your prayers,” Klass wrote on the Cornell Area Fire Department’s Facebook page. “We will release updates as they become available.”
