| Today's post is shared from newson6.com The widow and son of a Bartlesville man who died during firefighting training have been awarded more than $503,000 in federal and state death benefits despite testimony that the man never was really with any fire department. Rusty Topping, 28, died in 2008 after registering at a state training facility as a volunteer for the Barnsdall fire department. But Barnsdall's fire chief, Pete O'Dell, testified in workers' comp court that Topping wasn't actually a volunteer. The Oklahoman reports the court said Topping was a firefighter based on a letter of recommendation O'Dell wrote. But O'Dell told the court none of it was true. |
