St. Paul Flags Flying At Half-Staff After Firefighter's Sudden Death

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Flags are being flown at half-staff in St. Paul on Tuesday after the sudden death of a firefighter who was on-duty Monday night.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman ordered the flags at all city facilities to be flown at half-staff in honor of paramedic/firefighter Shane Clifton. He was on-duty at Station 17 Monday night when he suddenly died of cardiac arrest.

According to the St. Paul Fire Department, Clifton told his colleagues at Station No. 14 in Merriam Park that he felt sick around 5 p.m. Shortly after, he collapsed after going into cardiac arrest. Clifton's fellow firefighters and EMTs came to his aid and took him to Regions Hospital, where he later died.

Clifton was a Navy veteran who worked as an emergency department technician for Unity Hospital in Fridley and Allina EMS before he came to the St. Paul Fire Department in 2007.

Clifton was the first firefighter in the department to die while on duty since 2009. He leaves behind two children. He was 38 years old.