Cause of Trainee's Death Still Unclear

Emergency Medical Technician 'Loved What She Did'

A Dale City emergency medical technician who died Sunday while training to become a firefighter was wearing full firefighter gear and breathing from an air tank when she collapsed during an exercise, but there is still no official word on what caused her death, fire officials and family said yesterday.

An autopsy was performed yesterday on Cecilia Turnbough, 42, an EMT with the Dale City Volunteer Fire Department, but the medical examiner has not released a cause of death, said Randy Earl, spokesman for the Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue. There was no apparent trauma to Turnbough's body, Earl said.

It does not appear that her equipment was malfunctioning during the entry-level exercise about 2:45 p.m., said Steve Chappell, assistant chief of the Dale City department. He declined to comment on what might have caused Turnbough's death, citing an ongoing investigation.

"It is so abnormal for an event like this to occur that we're not even going to speculate," Chappell said.

Turnbough had completed a required physical in 2000 when she joined the department as an EMT, but it was unclear yesterday whether she had undergone other optional physicals since then, Chappell said. He added that the department's required physical was made more thorough in 2005.

Turnbough was executing a maze drill when an alarm on her suit sounded, signifying that she had been motionless for a period of time, her husband, Chris Turnbough, said. Instructors rushed into the maze and performed CPR but were unable to revive her. She was taken to Prince William Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, he said.

Turnbough's death follows that of Fairfax County Police Lt. Frank J. Stecco, who died last month in Pohick Bay during a rescue training exercise for which he volunteered. In April 2007, firefighter Kyle R. Wilson died while searching a burning house in Woodbridge -- the first Prince William firefighter to die in the line of duty in the fire department's more than 40-year history.

At his Dale City home yesterday, Chris Turnbough, a lieutenant with the volunteer fire department who has taken the same training, said his wife was in good health and that the instructors at the Prince William County Public Safety Training Center in Nokesville are top-notch.

He said the maze exercise requires students to navigate an enclosed structure simulating the conditions of a search-and-rescue operation in varying degrees of light, while wearing full gear. Instructors monitor students' progress through portals that allow them to see inside. Students are timed as they complete various tasks, such as removing pieces of gear to fit through small spaces and then putting the gear back on again.

Turnbough said that he did not know why his wife collapsed but that he did not think the drill was the cause. He said his wife might have pushed herself too hard during the training that their son, Richie, 19, who was a Dale City volunteer firefighter and now serves in the U.S. Navy, also completed.

"One day, she's here; one day, she's not," said Chris Turnbough, 41, a Department of Defense employee. "I don't feel that the maze had anything to do with it. . . . It's a challenging course, but it's a requirement that any firefighter does. . . . She loved what she did. I don't think she would change it for anything."

In addition to her volunteer work as an EMT, Turnbough had worked at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens since 2005, most recently as a finance assistant, estate spokeswoman Emily Coleman Dibella said. She also served as a first responder at the estate, assisting tourists with medical issues, Dibella said.

"She would consistently go out and regularly help visitors who had minor problems like a scraped knee, to people who would come and have serious medical issues," Dibella said. "She was a wonderful person."

In addition to her son and husband, Turnbough is survived by her daughter, Rebecca, 12; son Jack, 10; and niece Kristina Robles, whom Turnbough took in and raised from the age of 14 and who was also a Dale City volunteer firefighter, Chris Turnbough said.

Wearing a Dale City fire department fleece, Jack Turnbough sat on the front steps of the family's home yesterday afternoon as his father recalled Cecilia Turnbough's life of service.

Asked why his mom wanted to be a firefighter, Jack thought for a moment and said it was because she wanted to "evolve."

"She was really good at what she did," he said. "I miss her."