County fire dept. sued over explosion at plant

Keith Paul

Wednesday, March 20, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

A model rocket company filed a federal lawsuit this morning against Clark County claiming fire department management's decisions led to an explosion and a second blaze that burned for 24 hours and caused a bulk of the estimated $12 million in damage.

"The firefighters did an outstanding job in putting out the first fire, but it was (the fire department management's) ... actions that started the second fire," said Mark Savit, a Washington-based attorney for model rocket maker AeroTech.

The suit also alleges a cover-up after the fire and asks the department be compelled to reveal what investigators took from the AeroTech plant in the days after the Oct. 15 blaze. Company officials said they informed fire investigators not to re-enter the building without them or a search warrant. The suit does not ask for a specific amount of money.

The suit is against the county, the fire department, fire Chief Earl Greene, two fire investigators and Titanium Metals Corp., whose workers were called to the fire for assistance in dealing with a water-soaked barrel of magnesium, Savit said.

A fire started in a machine that produces model rocket engines in the AeroTech plant on Palm Street, near Boulder Highway and Saint Louis Avenue. The fire killed one worker and severely injured two others.

That fire was quickly put out, but nearly three hours later a barrel of water-soaked magnesium erupted a second blaze that destroyed AeroTech and several other businesses in the building. The building was reported to have housed about 2,500 pounds of ammonium perchlorate and several barrels of magnesium.

The lid on a barrel of magnesium was slightly off causing the water to leak in. Savit said a worker says the lid was on when he fled the building when the first fire broke out.

"They told us it had to be the sprinklers or a broken water pipe that compromised the lid," Savit said. "I don't see water coming straight down compromising the lid."

When asked what could of knocked the lid off, Savit responded, "pressure from a fire hose."

The barrel sat inside the building getting hotter and hotter as fire officials called representatives from Titanium Metals Corp. for assistance in dealing with it.

"It's like turning on the burner of a gas stove, letting the gas leak out, not turning it off, leaving it on for three hours and then coming back and turning on the light switch," Savit said.

AeroTech officials have previously questioned why fire officials waited hours to deal with the magnesium instead of just dumping sand or salt into it to extinguish the chemical.

Green defended the department's actions in handling the barrel of magnesium.

"We had our experts there and we called the Timet folks and came up with our plan. We were going to take that (barrel of magnesium) out when it ignited," he said. "I think my people acted appropriate in regards to that magnesium."

Greene said investigators have an "excellent idea why the lid came off" and have eyewitnesses, but since the case is headed to court he declined to say what investigators have concluded about the lid.

Greene decline further comment saying he had not seen the lawsuit.

The AeroTech fire has spurred allegations of document shredding and cover up from Steve La-Sky, who filed a lawsuit recently against the department alleging he was moved from public information officer to firefighter after he came forward with claims of shredding.

Greene also said the plant had not been inspected since 1995, but later acknowledged and an inspector had visited the plant in November 2000 but did not follow up on the report. He also acknowledged documents were shredded, but claimed they were copies of AeroTech proprietary information.

The inspections did not find any major violations. AeroTech was fined $6,600 for nine safety citations by the state's Occupational Safety and Health Administration stemming from the fire. The fines are being appealed.

AeroTech officials have said they will reopen the model rocket plant in Cedar City, Utah.