Jason McGlone: Line-of-Duty Death and Criminal Charges

Jason McGlone, a 51-year-old volunteer assistant fire chief with the East Branch Fire Department in Delaware County, New York, died on July 17, 2025, after being electrocuted while responding to a car crash on State Highway 30 in Hancock. The driver who caused that crash, Joseph Bellows Jr., has since been indicted on eight counts, including second-degree manslaughter.

How McGlone Was Electrocuted at the Scene

Around 9:30 p.m. on July 17, 2025, East Branch firefighters were dispatched to a crash on State Highway 30 in the town of Hancock. A pickup truck driven by Joseph Bellows Jr., 54, of Downsville, had left the road and struck a guardrail and a utility pole.¹ The impact pulled electrical wires loose from the pole, leaving them hanging low over the roadway.

McGlone arrived driving a rescue pumper. According to the U.S. Fire Administration’s fatality report, he tried to reposition the truck away from the sagging wires, not realizing they had become entangled with the apparatus and were touching the roof.² When he stepped out of the cab and touched the metal door and the ground at the same time, he completed an electrical circuit and was electrocuted.¹

Other personnel performed CPR and used an automated external defibrillator. They could not revive him, and McGlone was pronounced dead at the scene.²

Charges Against the Driver

Bellows was arrested at the scene and initially charged with driving while intoxicated. Delaware County District Attorney Shawn J. Smith said Bellows refused a blood alcohol test, so investigators obtained a search warrant to draw blood. The resulting toxicology report, according to Smith, showed a blood alcohol content above the legal limit.³

On September 4, 2025, a Delaware County grand jury returned an eight-count indictment. The charges include:⁴

Manslaughter in the second degree, a Class C felony and the top count, carrying a potential sentence of five to fifteen years in state prison
Vehicular manslaughter, two counts, Class D felony
Driving while intoxicated, two misdemeanor counts covering impaired operation and blood alcohol content above the legal limit
Using a cell phone while driving
Speeding
Criminal mischief for recklessly damaging property exceeding $250 in value, tied to the NYSEG utility pole and power lines

Bellows was arraigned in Delaware County Court on September 5, 2025, with bail set at $10,000.⁵ Smith has indicated the investigation remains ongoing.⁶

Who Jason McGlone Was

Born in Huntington on Long Island, McGlone moved to Delaware County around 2003 for what his family described as “country life,” settling in East Branch.⁷ He joined the East Branch Volunteer Fire Department in 2000 and served for 25 years, including 15 years as an assistant chief and five as a fire police captain. He held the rank of 3rd Assistant Chief when he died.⁸

His pull toward the fire service was personal. His cousin, Joseph Maloney, was a New York City firefighter with Ladder Company 3 and one of eleven members of that company killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. McGlone’s nephew Tommy said both he and Jason joined for the brotherhood and the work, but “there was also a bigger reason” tied to Maloney’s legacy.⁸

Outside the firehouse, McGlone worked for local bluestone companies and in heavy equipment and masonry. He also worked as a kitchen aide at a school for underprivileged and troubled youth, becoming head cook within three years and learning to prepare the cultural foods of his students so they would feel at home.⁷ He ran a barbecue operation called “McGlone’s Get Some BBQ” and took first place at the 2024 Hancock Mid-Summer BBQ Cookoff and Car Show. He was married to CaroleAnn McGlone for 21 years and had two children, Addaleen and Michael, both of whom became volunteer firefighters.⁸

How He’s Being Remembered

McGlone’s funeral was held on July 26, 2025, at the East Branch Fire Hall. Hancock Chaplain Brad Esolen performed the Striking of the Four Fives, the series of bells signaling a line-of-duty death, and Delaware County 911 broadcast the “last call” for McGlone over the fire hall speakers. Pastor Yancey Brown called it “the hardest service I’ve ever done” and described McGlone as the kind of person “every hamlet community fire department needs.”⁹

Governor Kathy Hochul said McGlone “embodied the courage, commitment and selflessness that define New York’s volunteer firefighters” and ordered flags on all state government buildings flown at half-staff on July 26, 2025.¹⁰¹¹ State Senator Peter Oberacker said McGlone’s “service and sacrifice will not be forgotten.”

McGlone’s name was added to the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial at the 45th annual tribute on May 2–3, 2026, at the U.S. Fire Administration campus in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He was one of 204 firefighters on the 2026 Roll of Honor.⁷¹²

1
New York State Police. New York State Police Investigating Line of Duty Death of East Branch Firefighter
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U.S. Fire Administration. Firefighter Fatality Details – Jason T. McGlone
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Binghamton Homepage. Delaware County Man Indicted in East Branch Firefighter Death
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WJFF Radio. Indictment Returned in Crash That Led to Firefighter’s Death in Hancock
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Press Connects. East Branch Firefighter Was Killed Responding to Crash; Driver Charged With Manslaughter
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WBNG. Charges Released Against Driver in Death of East Branch Fire Assistant Chief Jason McGlone
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National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Jason T. McGlone
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Press Connects. NY Firefighter Jason McGlone Put Family, Community Service First
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Press Connects. NY Firefighter Funeral: Asst. Chief Jason McGlone Gave Everything
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Fire Rescue 1. N.Y. Assistant Fire Chief Dies After Electrocution at Crash Scene
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WBNG. Governor Hochul Orders Flags Half-Staff in Honor of East Branch Assistant Chief
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National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Memorial Weekend Coverage – New York