‘Firefighters are not disposable’ Family sues after patriarch disabled from St. Augustine gas explosion response

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Thursday marks 10 years since a monolithic detonation astatine a St. Augustine state station.

The blast could beryllium seen from 25 miles away. It happened erstwhile an above-ground retention vessel overflowed.

The operation of the vapors and vigor from a substance transportation motortruck caused the blast. The motortruck operator was wounded successful the archetypal blast but survived.

Now 10 years later, the household of 1 of the firefighters who responded to the blast is suing the substance vessel driver, his then-employer, and the proprietor of the erstwhile state station.

The household says that occurrence is the crushed helium suffers from respective neurological disorders, cannot locomotion connected his own, and has occupation speaking.

The Riley household filed a suit successful March. His woman of 22-years, Lani, did not remark connected the pending litigation.

The suit says Michael Riley was exposed to toxic fumes erstwhile helium responded to the occurrence and that vulnerability led to his injuries. His woman said her husband’s diminution has been hard to watch.

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“We navigator his meals for him,” Lani said. “We person to assistance him eat, we person to assistance him usage the restroom, we person to bash carnal therapy-type things with him.”

Life has been antithetic for Michael Riley for the past 5 years. His woman and their lad are his full-time caretakers

“Michael is specified a sweetheart,” Lani said. “He devoted his beingness to different people. He conscionable wanted to assistance different people, truthful however tin you not repay that?”

Michael was a firefighter for much than 30 years, astir 8 of them were with the St. Augustine Fire Department. His vocation ended successful August 2016.

“Sometimes there’s a caller Michael,” Lani said. “We aftermath up and he’s mislaid a level of what helium utilized to beryllium capable to do. We conscionable woody with it until the adjacent diminution comes.”

Lani says Michael was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, Encephalopathy, and Parkinsonism successful 2016 and helium could not enactment anymore.

The St. Augustine Fire Department inactive treats Michael arsenic a subordinate of the crew, checking successful connected him and hosting him for peculiar outings earlier the pandemic, but Michael’s wellness is rapidly deteriorating.

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Lani said it is hard to ticker but memories of however Michael served arsenic a firefighter to assistance others and emotion keeps her going.

“Firefighters are not disposable,” Lani said. “When thing happens to them, we should not crook our backmost and unreal similar we don’t spot it. If they get sick and they get hurt, we cognize that they are ever going to beryllium determination for us. It conscionable feels similar we should beryllium the aforesaid we should beryllium determination for them.”

News4Jax reached retired to attorneys representing the vessel bearer institution Florida Rock and Tank Lines, and the erstwhile motortruck driver. They accidental they cannot remark due to the fact that the suit is active.

REALTED: Charge dismissed against operator successful state presumption explosion

News4Jax is inactive waiting to perceive backmost from the state station’s ineligible team.

Both companies were cited by OSHA successful 2012 for the explosion. The bureau recovered the state presumption and Florida Rock and Tank Lines refilled the above-ground retention vessel adjacent though the substance level gauge did not work.

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In 2015, the state presumption won $800,000 successful damages aft it sued Florida Rock and Tank Lines.

A civilian assemblage said the operator parked excessively adjacent to the retention tanks, failed to cheque however overmuch helium could capable the tanks, and did not enactment adjacent capable to the shut-off valves.

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