Nearly 20 NC Firefighters COVID Positive after Training

Nov. 18, 2020
At least 17 Asheville firefighters have tested positive for the virus, including nine who attended driver/operator certification training that began Oct. 26.

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A North Carolina fire department saw an increase in COVID-19 cases among members after a multi-week training program that ran from late October into early November.

At least 17 Asheville firefighters have tested positive for the virus, with around a dozen more under quarantine because of possible exposure, The Asheville Citizen Times reports. Of those firefighters with the virus, nine attended driver/operator certification sessions that began Oct. 26  at the Buncombe County Emergency Services Training Center in Woodfin.

"One (positive test) is one too many. ... We are seeing nationally and at a state level an unbelievable increase in COVID cases. So, for us to also have an increase, unfortunately is not surprising," Asheville Fire Chief Scott Burnette told The Citizen Times.

Multiple firefighters who attended the training program began showing symptoms when they returned to sessions Nov. 9 following a weekend at home. Participants had completed two weeks of certification at that point, but the remaining sessions were canceled.

"There has been an increase in cases all over North Carolina and our people (firefighters) are exposed more," Scott Mullins, president of Asheville's firefighters union, told The Citizen Times. "It's hard to say where our firefighters picked it up from because we respond to COVID calls every day."

While in training, firefighters were required to wear masks and socially distance. Firefighters in training also did not respond to emergencies.

"None of the firefighters who were in that training were on trucks answering calls," Burnette told The Citizen Times. "The class hadn't been completed yet, and when you're in that training you are not assigned to a truck. You're not doing both."

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