United States Fire Administration
13 January 2023
The United States Fire Administration has announced the death of Captain Charles “Chad” Cate, 46, of Clallam County Fire District No.3 on 12 January 2023.
On Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, at approximately 2:25 a.m., Captain Charles “Chad” Cate returned to the fire station after responding to a fire alarm activation at a commercial building. Later, at approximately 4:00 a.m., after heading back out to the site of an earlier house fire, he texted a fellow captain and the duty chief to state that all was well at the scene. At 7:00 a.m. that same morning, he was discovered deceased in his bunk by members of his crew when they attempted to wake him. The cause of his death has yet to be determined.
Age: 46
Rank: Captain
Classification: Career
Incident date: January 12, 2023 7:00 a.m.
Date of death: January 12, 2023
Cause of death: Unknown
Nature of death: Unknown
Activity type: Other
Emergency duty: No
Duty type: Other On-Duty
Fixed property use: Residential
The number of on-duty deaths for 2023 currently is 2.
Go here to read the number of interior line of duty deaths for 2023.
Fatality status is provisional and may change as USFA contacts State Fire Marshals to verify fatality incident information.
For more information about on-duty deaths as recorded by the United States Fire Administration go to “Firefighter Fatalities in the United States.”
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