Published: October 28, 2009 12:06 am      

Task force to probe fireman’s death

CLEARFIELD — District Attorney William Shaw Jr. said Tuesday that a multi-jurisdictional law-enforcement task force will be formed today to investigate the death of a Westover firefighter who collapsed at an abandoned house blaze early Saturday.

The state police said the probe is being handled as an arson investigation, although no details have been released on how the blaze was set.

Shaw said the task force will look not only into Saturday’s fire, but also about a dozen suspicious fires in southwestern Clearfield County and northern Cambria County.

The task force will include state police criminal and arson investigators.

Roy Everett Westover Jr., a veteran firefighter and single father of three sons, died of a stress-induced heart attack, Cambria County Coroner Dennis Kwiatkowski has said. Westover was pronounced dead just after 1 a.m. Saturday, about an hour after being taken to Miners Medical Center in Hastings.

Kwiatkowski said that the death would be listed as a homicide if the fire is determined to be an arson, because the fire set off a chain of events leading to Westover’s death.

Authorities said that Westover, a lieutenant with the Westover Volunteer Fire Company, had been working an exterior hose line at the fire.

When he walked back to the fire truck, he became lightheaded and told others that he did not feel well, the coroner said.

The structure, which had been vacant for years, reportedly had no utilities, including electrical power. It was located along Route 36 in Westover Borough.

Westover was a 28-year member of the fire company. His funeral will be will be held at 1 p.m. today at the Westover Baptist Church, where he had been a member.

Anyone with information about the fire has been asked to call the state police.