TUCSON, AZ — The state’s worker-safety agency has cited Rural Metro Fire for a safety violation after a recruit suffered a heat-related emergency last summer and later died.
William Cody Treatch was on his second day of a 14-week training program. The 26-year-old was outside on August 14, walking laps in firefighter “turnout” gear. He started to show signs of heat illness, according to a report released Thursday by the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH). He was transported to a local hospital where he later died.
The ADOSH report says Rural Metro didn’t train the recruit on the signs and symptoms of heat exposure. Employers have a duty under Arizona law to provide workplaces free from hazards that are likely to cause death or serious injury, according to the report.
ADOSH gave the company a serious safety citation and a $16,131 fine, which was approved at a meeting Thursday.
"This is a tough situation. Our hearts go out to the recruit and his family,” ADOSH Director Brian Hudson said.
John Surma, an attorney for Rural Metro, called in by phone to the meeting and disputed the safety citation. He said academy recruits were overseen by highly trained instructors who had medical training. The recruits were given rest, shade, water and snacks. Before starting the training walk in turnout gear, they had just completed a break of at least 45 minutes, he said.
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Surma also disputed the triple-degree temperatures that ADOSH cited on the day of the incident, saying it was 95º or 96º at the time.
The Industrial Commission of Arizona, the state agency that oversees ADOSH, approved the citation and fine at a meeting Thursday.
One of the commissioners, Orin Godfrey, has more than 17 years of experience as a firefighter.
He said Arizona faces a growing problem of recruiting and keeping firefighters. Every fire agency needs to review its practices related to recruits and heat-related illness, he said.
“Summer academies are unavoidable,” he said.
As for the Rural Metro incident, “Nobody is saying a bad job was done on scene,” he said. “But what is being said is the protections in place – policy-wise – were not done.”
At the time of the incident, Rural Metro was part of the Texas-based Global Medical Response. The company released a statement Thursday that states, in part: “While we respect the investigative process, we are concerned about aspects of the ADOSH findings and the proposal to issue a citation.”
You can read the full statement below:
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