PHOTOS: The last thing he remembers is someone offering him a doughnut.
The next few days are a blank for a Green Township firefighter who was poisoned with cyanide while fighting a fire in Alpena County two weeks ago.
Matt Cohoon, the 37-year-old chief of the Green Township Fire Department, was a mystery to doctors when he showed up at MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena on March 16. A blood test revealed he had cyanide poisoning — a complication sometimes faced by firefighters as they work in the black smoke produced by burning plastics and other household products.
His health future is uncertain, and the poisonous gas has taken pieces of his memory.
Still, Cohoon said, it’s all just part of the job of a firefighter. His colleagues knew something was wrong as Cohoon slumped outside the burned home on M-32.
“It went from bad to worse real fast,” said Assistant Chief Tim Wade, who was at the fire.