17 firefighters test positive for COVID-19 after training in North Carolina, chief says
At least 17 firefighters in a Western North Carolina department tested positive for COVID-19 and more 13 more are self-isolating, officials say.
The outbreak at the Asheville Fire Department follows a multi-week training program that began in late October, WLOS reported.
Nine of the 25 firefighters who attended the sessions at the Buncombe County Training Center in Woodfin have since tested positive for the virus, according to the television station. Eight others who did not attend also tested positive.
“One (positive test) is one too many,” said Fire Chief Scott Burnette, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. “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.”
Burnette said firefighters practiced social distancing and were required to wear masks during the training, WLOS reported. The classes were canceled after several attendees “woke up with symptoms.”
Since the start of the pandemic, the Asheville Fire Department has reported 26 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the Citizen-Times. A total of 30 firefighters are currently in quarantine.
Other fire departments across North Carolina have also had COVID-19 outbreaks.
The 42-year-old deputy chief with the Clayton Fire Department in Johnston County died in September, about a month after an outbreak there infected 17 people. The wife of another Clayton firefighter also died after contracting the virus.
Five firefighters in Wake Forest were diagnosed with COVID-19, as well as six firefighters in Sanford.
“Our firefighters work a dangerous job,” Burnette said in a statement to McClatchy News. “This pandemic has increased the dangers they face daily and our goal is to keep them, their families, and the community we serve as healthy and safe as possible.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 1:42 PM with the headline "17 firefighters test positive for COVID-19 after training in North Carolina, chief says."