Crime & Safety

Retired Cop, Fire Chief Dies in Fall

Barry Stires, 56, of Phillipsburg was clearing brush at a Bethlehem Township property when he fell down an embankment, suffering severe head injuries.

A 56-year-old Phillipsburg man died from severe head injuries suffered in a fall down a Bethlehem Township embankment Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Lehigh County Coroner Scott M. Grim ruled that the death of Barry L. Stires of 30 N. Prospect St. was accidental.

According to Grim, Stires was clearing some brush across from 3221 Rim Road about 1:35 p.m. He was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill about an hour later.

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According to The Express Times, Stires was a retired fire department chief and police department detective in Lopatcong Townhip, N.J. He had been a cop for 22 years and a volunteer firefighter for about 40 years, the newspaper reported.

It was unclear from Grim’s news release and the newspaper report why Stires was clearing brush at the Bethlehem Township property.

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