Police Finish Investigation into '21 NY Firefighter Recruit Death
By Craig Fox
Source Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
May 21—WATERTOWN — State police investigators have finished looking into the death of city firefighter Peyton L.S. Morse.
Schuyler County District Attorney Joseph G. Fazzary confirmed on Friday that state police investigators have turned over their report about Peyton's death.
The 21-year-old firefighter had a medical emergency on March 3, 2021, at the New York State Academy of Fire Science in Montour Falls, near Watkins Glen. He died nine days later in a Pennsylvania hospital.
In an email, Mr. Fazzary said he's waiting for a report from the medical examiner in Albany and a final report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH, which is looking into how to prevent similar incidents.
He hopes to receive them by the end of June.
"In the next several weeks, I will be reviewing everything to make sure there are no unturned stones and then I will make a decision on how to proceed," Mr. Fazzary said in the email.
The state police Violent Crimes Unit with Troop E, based in Canandaigua, was assigned to investigate Mr. Morse's death after the case was transferred from a state police investigator in Montour Falls. The Canandaigua unit investigates assaults, homicides and other serious crimes.
Peyton's parents, David M. and Stacy L. Morse, said on Friday that they were aware that the investigation is in Mr. Fazzary's hands.
They said they have confidence in the district attorney's handling of the case. They blame the academy for their son's death.
"I haven't changed my mind that this was a homicide," said Mr. Morse, a retired state police trooper.
"We're hoping and praying Mr. Fazzary does the right thing," Mrs. Morse said.
They also have been critical that the state's Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau, or PESH, determined the fire academy did nothing wrong when Peyton had the medical emergency.
Mr. and Mrs. Morse insist that the PESH report contained inaccurate information about what happened that day at the fire academy, and that the agency had no answers for how wrong information could end up in its report.
Their son's emergency happened after he complained that he could not breathe while he was going through a plywood tunnel — called the "box" — that simulates what a firefighter could experience during a fire.
Contacted Friday by phone, Mr. and Mrs. Morse talked about the investigation while attending the Fire Hero Family Wellness Conference in Rochester this week. The event is hosted by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
On Friday, Watertown Police Chief Matthew R. Timerman said he's "eager to support the district attorney if he needs any assistance" in the investigation.
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