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Pineville VFD faces violations in death of firefighter Richard Sheltra

PINEVILLE, N.C. — The North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL) cited the Pineville Volunteer Fire Department with four violations for the death of firefighter Richard Sheltra.

The department listed three of the violations as serious and one as non-serious with a total penalty of $6,100.

Sheltra, 20, died from smoke inhalation in April while fighting a fire at the Edwin Watts Golf Store in the Countryside Shopping Center off Pineville-Matthews Road.

The NCDOL said the Pineville Volunteer Fire Department did not establish and implement a written respiratory protection program. The department must fix this violation by Dec. 14, 2016.

The report showed that during firefighting operations inside the golf store, firefighters did not remain in visual or voice contact with one another.

The department listed a third violation that found that at least two firefighters were not outside of the building in order to provide assistance or emergency rescue.

The NCDOL also found that the Pineville volunteer Fire Department did not maintain proper Occupational Safety and Health Administration forms for the past three years.

The Pineville fire chief Mike Gerin told Channel 9 he's working with the Department of Labor to address the concerns. He said his goal is to improve fire service and honor Sheltra.

"We always want to do better," Gerin said. "We always want to try and make it safer so that another fire department, another family, doesn't ever have to experience this."

Sheltra served with the fire department for three years.

Channel 9 reached out to Sheltra's family for a comment, but was not able to reach them.

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