Gustafson

The investigation into the cause of the accident that killed firefighter Eric Gustafson continues and may take several months to complete.

While responding to a call on Sept. 9, Gustafson rounded a curve on Old Eighth Street Road and the truck he drove rolled over, killing him and injuring firefighter David Carney and Capt. Jeff Stuart. 

The Meridian Police Department has not reached a conclusion in its investigation, Sgt. Dareall Thompson of the Meridian Police Department said.

In addition to the police department’s investigation, Fire Chief Anthony Clayton has requested the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to conduct an investigation. 

Clayton said he anticipated results from that investigation in nine to 10 months.

NIOSH, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducts investigations into the deaths of firefighters across the country. Most of the recent investigations into the deaths of firefighters were attributed to medical causes, such as cardiac arrest of heart attacks.

According to its website, the last rollover accident investigated occurred in Alabama in October of 2013, with the investigation completed in June of 2014.

There has never been an investigation into a rollover accident in Mississippi. In the last decade, all of the firefighter deaths investigated in Mississippi had medical causes, according to the website.