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Firefighter's death ruled due to crash, not heart condition

HANOVER, Pa. (AP) — A coroner says the death of a veteran central Pennsylvania firefighter who was responding to a blaze was caused by the accident rather than a heart condition. Sixty-eight-year-old Earl Shoemaker was driving the Hanover fire department's Air 46 unit when the truck went off the road and into a field March 12. The death was originally classified as a coronary event by the York County coroner's office, but a pathology team determined that it was due to trauma from the crash. Coroner Pam Gay told The (Hanover) Evening Sun (http://bit.ly/1QV49Ml ) on Saturday that "on rare occasions they change their mind, and that's what happened in this case." Gay said Shoemaker's heart condition was a contributing factor in his death, but not the cause. ___ Information from: The Evening Sun, http://www.eveningsun.com