County to join probe of AeroTech fire

Keith Paul

Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002 | 10 a.m.

Clark County officials will conduct a "routine" inquiry of the fire department's investigation into the fatal blaze at a model rocket engine plant. The investigation has been at the center of allegations of document shredding and a coverup.

Clark County Fire Chief Earl Greene denied he shredded any original documents related to the fire or inspections of AeroTech after the Oct. 15 fire at the plant on Palm Street near Boulder Highway and St. Louis Avenue. Instead he said the documents were proprietary information from the company of trade secrets.

The fire was determined to be an accident, but Greene would not release more details of the investigation, promising to release the report when completed.

"There was no cover-up or sabotage," Greene said at a press conference Wednesday.

Steve La-Sky, who was recently reassigned from department spokesman to firefighter, claims the department shredded documents after requests from the media regarding inspections of AeroTech. He says after he made his allegations, he was then demoted. Greene said the decision to move La-Sky was made during a normal reorganization of the department staff and before any allegations were made. La-Sky's salary -- about $15,000 higher than firefighters -- will not be reduced.

County Manager Thom Reilly said Greene was instructed to shred the copies of proprietary documents inadvertently made by Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Campbell so they would not be disseminated.

"The originals, of course, were not shredded but remain in the file," Deputy District Attorney Mary-Anne Miler wrote in a memo to Reilly.

La-Sky has called for an investigation into his allegations, however Reilly said there are no plans to further investigate his claims of document shredding.

The fire ignited the chemicals -- ammonium perchlorate and magnesium -- used to make the model rocket propellent. The fire caused the evacuation of the neighborhood.

Three AeroTech employees were hurt in the fire. Avelino Corpuz died Oct. 26 from his injuries sustained in the fire. The other two employees survived their burns.

The blaze burned throughout the night and into the next day causing an estimated $12 to $15 million in damages to the building and other connected businesses in the industrial complex.

AeroTech has since decided to relocate the rocket propellent plant to Cedar City, Utah. The plant is expected to open in March. The company's headquarters will remain in Las Vegas, said Mike Martens, a company spokesman.

La-Sky maintained firefighters didn't know that there was ammonium perchlorate and magnesium in the building when fighting the fire. However, Greene and Martens denied the allegations.

Martens said the company was inspected twice the year prior to the fire. Greene said company officials also told firefighters what was inside the building when the fire started.

La-Sky stood by his allegations saying a county fire department inspection report was shredded and not given to the media.

"It was some sort of incriminating evidence not released," La-Sky said. "I had a lot of concern about why there was not a follow up inspection and why the information was not released."

Greene deflected La-Sky's allegation saying the report was actually notes taken by an inspector for a report and since it was only notes, it was not public record. However, he did release copies of the two pages of notes dated Nov. 29, 2000.

The inspector noted "address storage of black powder, storage amount allowed and where (are) chemicals stored."

Fire spokesman Bob Leinbach said a follow up inspection should have been done, but one was not because of miscommunication between the two inspectors.

Greene noted the inspector was asked about the notes and he said there were no violations deemed to be imminently dangerous.

Reilly said internal "critiques" are common for major fires. However, county administrators have asked that information regarding any previous inspections of AeroTech be included in the results.

"We'll look at issues involving inspections; whether there was something that was not followed through and they'll address things that surfaced in light of the media attention," Reilly said. "Neither the investigation nor the internal review started as a result of any allegations from Steve La-Sky."

Sun reporter Adrienne Packer contributed to this story.