Heat from fire caused gun to shoot Wisconsin firefighter

CONRATH, Wis. (AP) — The heat from a fire caused a loaded gun to discharge, critically wounding a firefighter who was working to douse flames in northwestern Wisconsin, fire officials said.

Justin Fredrickson, 35, is out of the intensive care unit and recovering, the Cornell Area Fire Department said in an update Friday on Facebook.

A week earlier, he was working a fire in the Township of Willard when the heat from the fire caused the gun to go off.

“The bullet traveled through an exterior wall, striking Fredrickson in the abdomen,” Chief Dennis Klass said. “The loaded firearm discharged due to heat conditions caused by the fire, not by the intentional actions of a person.”

Fredrickson was taken to a nearby hospital and later airlifted for medical treatment in Eau Claire.

He has had at least three surgeries according to running updates posted on the department's Facebook page. A post late Friday said Fredrickson was out of the ICU and “was able to get some walking in today.”