A captain with the Los Angeles County Fire Department passed away in what authorities originally called an “active duty death,” only to provide a later update indicating he was actually off duty when he died.
According to fire officials, Captain Michael H. Mercado died on Sunday. When clarifying the circumstances surrounding Mercado’s death, a spokesperson for the fire department said he died due to “medical reasons” while off duty.
Capt. Mercado faithfully served with the L.A. County Fire Department for over 25 years, officials said. He was last assigned to Fire Station 90 in South El Monte.
“It is with a heavy [heart] the fire department shares the active duty death of Fire Captain Michael H. Mercado,” the department posted on social media at 11:13 a.m. “We extend our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Capt. Mercado.”
As of 2 p.m., the post indicating that Mercado died while on duty was still up on the department’s Facebook page.
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