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Firefighters' Van Driver Allegedly Drunk in Oregon Fatal Crash
VALE, Ore. (AP) -- A firefighter driving a van with seven colleagues had a blood alcohol content over the legal limit when they were all killed in a collision Aug. 24, according to court papers filed Thursday.
Mark Ransdell had a blood alcohol content of 0.13 percent, records said. Oregon's legal driving limit is 0.08.
Prosecutor Daniel Norris filed several charges, including reckless endangerment, against the company that employed the firefighters, alleging supervisors knew that large amounts of alcohol were being purchased but didn't intervene.
An attorney for First Strike Environmental Co., David Terry, called the charges ludicrous.
The firefighters were returning from an Idaho forest fire when the van crossed a double yellow line and struck a tractor-trailer head-on in eastern Oregon. The two truck occupants survived.
Norris said crew members had purchased beer at a Vale convenience store minutes before the crash. Officials also found evidence the crew bought beer at a Cascade, Idaho, gas station.
Terry said that supervisors were unaware of any possible wrongdoing. Company officials also questioned the accuracy of the blood alcohol tests, contending that the fire may have skewed the results.
Charges Filed in Fatal Oregon Firefighter Van Crash
VALE, Ore. -- Criminal charges were filed Thursday afternoon against a Roseberg, Ore.-based contract firefighting firm in connection with a deadly van crash near here that claimed the lives of eight firefighters.
First Strike Enviornmental faces 20 counts: 18 of reckless endangerment and 1 count each of reckless driving and driving under the influence, according to court papers filed in Malheur County Circuit Court.
Mark Ransdell, the driver of the van carrying the firefighters, was legally drunk when the vehicle collided with a truck, said Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris.
Norris' bill of information filed with the court indicated the blood alcohol level of Ransdell, 23, of Eagle Creek, was .13, which is substantially above the state's legal limit of .08 percent.
"He was intoxicated at the time," Norris said of Ransdell, among the eight in the van who died in the crash. The two truck occupants survived.
Nine of the reckless endangering charges named Ransdell, whom the charges said was acting as an agent for First Strike. The nine others listed unidentified crew bosses the filing said were acting "within the scope of employment" on behalf of First Strike.
The D.A. told KGW the case would be referred to a grand jury later this month or early in November. The grand jurors will be asked to consider charges against two supervisors in another First Strike van who saw the crew buy alcohol and didn't intervene, Norris said.
First Strike's attorney, David Terry of Roseburg, called the charges "ludicrous."
"There is no proof that corporate management ever did anything in approving or agreeing or acquiescing to this incident," said Terry. "It's simply not true."
Company officials, who were provided preliminary blood alcohol results, have questioned the accuracy of the tests, contending that the fire that resulted from the Aug. 24 collision may have skewed the results.
Authorities have said at least two van occupants had no alcohol or very little in their systems.
On Wednesday, investigators determined at least some in the van had been drinking beer for hours in the van on their return trip from Idaho to Oregon.
The van crossed a double yellow line and struck a semi-trailer head-on on U.S. 20 about 16 miles west of Vale.
Norris had earlier revealed that crew members purchased beer at a convenience store in Vale minutes before the crash.
But toxicology reports suggested Ransdell and some of the passengers were drinking long before that stop, Norris said.
"The alcohol consumption had to have been going on for quite some time before they got to Vale in order to reach the level that some of the passengers and the driver had in their blood," Norris said.
He added that officials have evidence the crew bought beer at a Cascade, Idaho, gas station a few miles from the South Fork Fire the crew had been fighting.
Employees remembered seeing the crew buy gas and beer at the mini-mart, Norris said. He believes the firefighters stopped at the Texaco station and mini-mart in Cascade sometime between 7 and 9 a.m.
Norris contended the two supervisors in another First Strike van saw the crew buy large amounts of alcohol and didn't intervene.
"They took no precautions at all to protect their crew," he said.
But Terry said that crew boss Jason Krueger, 27, and assistant crew boss Zeb Twete, 22, were unaware of any possible wrongdoing. The supervisors were riding in vehicles in front of van, and had little contact with those firefighters, he said.
"They saw no drinking going on. They smelled nothing," Terry said. Krueger is the son of First Strike president Bob Krueger.
Terry said it was a stretch to say that because a crew supervisor knew other crew members purchased beer along with chips and pop that the company should bear legal responsibility.
"The way he's prosecuting this case is to say First Strike management knew, counseled or recommended for those boys to (drink alcohol and drive drunk), which is the farthest thing from the truth," he said.
The Oregon Department of Forestry has suspended all firefighting crews linked to the company while the investigation continues.
Terry said that First Strike is being mistakenly singled out as an example of corporate irresponsibility, despite a "phenomenal" track record and yearly drug and alcohol training for crews.
http://www.kgw.com/index.html
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8 good men put in the ground by 1 drunk. Please don't drink and drive, and don't let your friends/family either.
VALE, Ore. (AP) -- A firefighter driving a van with seven colleagues had a blood alcohol content over the legal limit when they were all killed in a collision Aug. 24, according to court papers filed Thursday.
Mark Ransdell had a blood alcohol content of 0.13 percent, records said. Oregon's legal driving limit is 0.08.
Prosecutor Daniel Norris filed several charges, including reckless endangerment, against the company that employed the firefighters, alleging supervisors knew that large amounts of alcohol were being purchased but didn't intervene.
An attorney for First Strike Environmental Co., David Terry, called the charges ludicrous.
The firefighters were returning from an Idaho forest fire when the van crossed a double yellow line and struck a tractor-trailer head-on in eastern Oregon. The two truck occupants survived.
Norris said crew members had purchased beer at a Vale convenience store minutes before the crash. Officials also found evidence the crew bought beer at a Cascade, Idaho, gas station.
Terry said that supervisors were unaware of any possible wrongdoing. Company officials also questioned the accuracy of the blood alcohol tests, contending that the fire may have skewed the results.
Charges Filed in Fatal Oregon Firefighter Van Crash
VALE, Ore. -- Criminal charges were filed Thursday afternoon against a Roseberg, Ore.-based contract firefighting firm in connection with a deadly van crash near here that claimed the lives of eight firefighters.
First Strike Enviornmental faces 20 counts: 18 of reckless endangerment and 1 count each of reckless driving and driving under the influence, according to court papers filed in Malheur County Circuit Court.
Mark Ransdell, the driver of the van carrying the firefighters, was legally drunk when the vehicle collided with a truck, said Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris.
Norris' bill of information filed with the court indicated the blood alcohol level of Ransdell, 23, of Eagle Creek, was .13, which is substantially above the state's legal limit of .08 percent.
"He was intoxicated at the time," Norris said of Ransdell, among the eight in the van who died in the crash. The two truck occupants survived.
Nine of the reckless endangering charges named Ransdell, whom the charges said was acting as an agent for First Strike. The nine others listed unidentified crew bosses the filing said were acting "within the scope of employment" on behalf of First Strike.
The D.A. told KGW the case would be referred to a grand jury later this month or early in November. The grand jurors will be asked to consider charges against two supervisors in another First Strike van who saw the crew buy alcohol and didn't intervene, Norris said.
First Strike's attorney, David Terry of Roseburg, called the charges "ludicrous."
"There is no proof that corporate management ever did anything in approving or agreeing or acquiescing to this incident," said Terry. "It's simply not true."
Company officials, who were provided preliminary blood alcohol results, have questioned the accuracy of the tests, contending that the fire that resulted from the Aug. 24 collision may have skewed the results.
Authorities have said at least two van occupants had no alcohol or very little in their systems.
On Wednesday, investigators determined at least some in the van had been drinking beer for hours in the van on their return trip from Idaho to Oregon.
The van crossed a double yellow line and struck a semi-trailer head-on on U.S. 20 about 16 miles west of Vale.
Norris had earlier revealed that crew members purchased beer at a convenience store in Vale minutes before the crash.
But toxicology reports suggested Ransdell and some of the passengers were drinking long before that stop, Norris said.
"The alcohol consumption had to have been going on for quite some time before they got to Vale in order to reach the level that some of the passengers and the driver had in their blood," Norris said.
He added that officials have evidence the crew bought beer at a Cascade, Idaho, gas station a few miles from the South Fork Fire the crew had been fighting.
Employees remembered seeing the crew buy gas and beer at the mini-mart, Norris said. He believes the firefighters stopped at the Texaco station and mini-mart in Cascade sometime between 7 and 9 a.m.
Norris contended the two supervisors in another First Strike van saw the crew buy large amounts of alcohol and didn't intervene.
"They took no precautions at all to protect their crew," he said.
But Terry said that crew boss Jason Krueger, 27, and assistant crew boss Zeb Twete, 22, were unaware of any possible wrongdoing. The supervisors were riding in vehicles in front of van, and had little contact with those firefighters, he said.
"They saw no drinking going on. They smelled nothing," Terry said. Krueger is the son of First Strike president Bob Krueger.
Terry said it was a stretch to say that because a crew supervisor knew other crew members purchased beer along with chips and pop that the company should bear legal responsibility.
"The way he's prosecuting this case is to say First Strike management knew, counseled or recommended for those boys to (drink alcohol and drive drunk), which is the farthest thing from the truth," he said.
The Oregon Department of Forestry has suspended all firefighting crews linked to the company while the investigation continues.
Terry said that First Strike is being mistakenly singled out as an example of corporate irresponsibility, despite a "phenomenal" track record and yearly drug and alcohol training for crews.
http://www.kgw.com/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8 good men put in the ground by 1 drunk. Please don't drink and drive, and don't let your friends/family either.
