HAMILTON, OHIO: A coroner has ruled that a southwest Ohio firefighter responding to a blaze at a home died from smoke inhalation, not from his fall through the main floor and into the basement.
The Dec. 28 house fire that resulted in the death of 28-year-old Hamilton firefighter Patrick Wolterman is under investigation as a case of arson. The Butler County coroner ruled Wolterman’s death as a homicide, and the autopsy report was released Thursday.
A pathologist found that Wolterman had significant burns on about half of his body.
Firefighters responding at the smoke-filled house fire learned later that the couple who lived there was away on vacation.