viernes, 9 de agosto de 2013

Volunteer firefighters killed in West blast 'still heroes' after toxicology ... - Dallas Morning News (blog)

Nothing could have stopped fire captains Bob and Doug Snokhous from responding to the raging fire at West's fertilizer plant. Danger didn't deter them. Neither did the department's alcohol policy prohibiting firefighters from duty while intoxicated.

The brothers were among the 15 people killed when ammonium nitrate at the plant exploded in West on April 17. The amount of alcohol in the brothers' systems at the time was higher than the legal limit to drive, autopsy reports show. Abbott volunteer firefighter Jerry Chapman, who also responded and died, had traces of marijuana in his system.

But experts and people familiar with the situation said none of that probably affected the outcome of the deadly and devastating explosion. Instead, they say, it shows the three refused to stand idly by during the farming community's greatest disaster.

"They went there to protect the town," West Mayor Tommy Muska said. "In my opinion, they are still heroes. In my opinion, they used their best judgment."

The autopsy and toxicology reports highlight the limitations and realities that small volunteer fire departments in rural Texas face. They routinely receive little funding, have few state or federal regulations and form an effective crew out of whoever is willing to help. Volunteer departments are also typically short-staffed with members who are often on-call every minute of their lives.

The fire at the plant was first reported about 7:30 p.m. on a Wednesday.

"They're volunteers and they were tying one on during their own time, as far as they knew, until something happened," said Dwain Fuller, a forensic toxicologist who reviewed the autopsy reports for The Dallas Morning News.

Chapman's father said the level of marijuana found would have passed any standard drug test.

"It would have been several days since he smoked any marijuana," Dane Chapman said.

Family members of the Snokhous brothers either could not be reached or declined to comment Thursday. West Fire Chief George Nors also declined to comment.

Dallas County medical examiners, who performed the autopsies for McLennan County Justice of the Peace David Pareya, ruled all 15 deaths accidental. A doctor there said she could not discuss specific autopsies.

Fuller said nothing in the reports suggests that intoxication levels were an influence in the three men's deaths.

"It's really a red herring," he said.

The toxicology results and descriptions of some of the injuries suffered were first reported Thursday by the Waco Tribune-Herald.

The News obtained copies of the autopsies Tuesday from Pareya through a request under the state's judicial administration rules. Pareya's office received the last of the reports July 2, but hadn't yet forwarded them to the State Fire Marshal's office, according to a spokeswoman with that agency.

The State Fire Marshal's office is investigating the cause of the fire and the deaths of the first responders. Agency spokeswoman Rachel Moreno said she couldn't comment.

"Any findings from the autopsy reports will be part of the final fatality investigations," Moreno said.

West's fire department is comprised solely of volunteers, like 78 percent of departments across the state. West's department operates on a round-the-clock, on-call system. When there's an emergency, its 30 or so members are paged. Whoever can respond does. Muska said the department prohibits firefighters from responding to fires while intoxicated.

Bob Snokhous, 48, and his brother, Doug Snokhous, 50, were known for being some of the first and fastest in the department to respond to fire calls.

"These are go-getters," Muska said. "These are the ones that show up at every [fire.]"

As captains, the Snokhouses had authority to make some decisions on scene, but they weren't the only ones in a leadership position that night. They were two of about a dozen West firefighters who were on scene before the explosion, including the chief, the assistant chief and another captain. Chapman arrived at the fertilizer plant shortly before the explosion.

Chapman, 26, was a volunteer firefighter for nearby Abbott. He was in an emergency medical technician class in West the night of the explosion.

Chris Barron, executive director of the State Firemen's & Fire Marshals' Association of Texas, said it's not in the nature of a volunteer firefighter to refrain from responding. He said that was probably even more true in West, given the fertilizer plant fire's threat to the community.

Barron said all indications are that the firefighters did the best they could to fight the fire, but the ammonium nitrate inside the plant was already overheating and becoming volatile.

"It was just a tragedy," he said.

bformby@dallasnews.com; smervosh@dallasnews.com

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