After a weekslong investigation, Anchorage fire officials still can't say for sure what caused a firefighter to fall more than 70 feet from a fire truck ladder in June. No one, not even security cameras, saw the fall that left 29-year-old Anchorage firefighter and paramedic Ben Schultz hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury. That's one finding in an internal report from fire officials that also recommends policy changes to avoid repeating one of the most severe training accidents in the Anchorage Fire Department's history.
In the tight-knit fire department, bad injuries ripple in shockwaves and trigger intensive self-reflection about safety.