Chief Rick Araiza ‘reeling’
from explosion illness of
firefighters, SPFD impacts
December 10, 2014
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
As the first responders to an emergency outside city limits, Santa Paula Firefighters didn’t hesitate to start treating a severely injured man at the scene of an explosion on Mission Rock Road.
But that didn’t mean they didn’t have concerns about the material that exploded, what those at Santa Clara Waste Water assured them was non-hazardous sewage. Told repeatedly the area was safe the firefighters continued to work on the patient who received trauma injuries when a vacuum truck exploded.
That dedication landed the three - Captain Milo Bustillos, Engineer Matt Lindsey and Firefighter Matt May in the hospital where they were treated and released... but within hours they were back complaining of respiratory and other symptoms usually associated with exposure to toxic chemicals. Now, the ill firefighters are on 30-day disability leave with an unknown prognosis, according to Fire Chief Rick Araiza.
“They have been sent to a specialist,” for testing and treatment said Araiza.
The three were among more than 50 people who were treated following the November 18, 3:45 a.m. explosion at 815 Mission Rock Road.
The Santa Paula Firefighters have suffered the most serious exposure impacts, but the department’s mechanic who later went to the scene when the engine had been abandoned is now also ill and off work.
The city was not aware of what hazardous materials were now on the property, which until 2004 had been a sewage drop-off facility that sent the waste to the Oxnard treatment plant via a pipeline through the river valley.
Sold in 2004, in 2009 Santa Clara Waste Water, named one of the nation’s top 100 privately owned “non-hazardous” waste water facilities, was sold to General Environmental Management (GEM); subsequently it was acquired by Green Compass which later partnered with C3 Capital.
The morning of the explosion of the still unknown chemicals, Araiza said, “Our engine was first in and in the product,” that had spilled during the explosion treating the injured man. “There was very little product on the ground... “
Ventura County Fire arrived second and started treating the other, less seriously injured victim away from the main spillage.
Araiza said it was only when the SPFD firefighters went to move their engine that the tires “Started to smoke,” and created a cloud of gas that enveloped the engine and its crew.
That is when SPFD firefighters left the engine near the entrance of SCWW.
Because of what had occurred when SPFD moved its engine, VCF Engine 26 was not moved.
But the unit was caught in the second blast that occurred at about 8:30 a.m. when a toxic cloud ignited, causing other chemicals on the property to explode, creating what a fire official described as a “pool of toxic goo... “
That explosion caused officials to order a 1-mile evacuation and the closure of Highway 126 for hours, among other impacts.
Now, more than three weeks following the explosion officials from an array of state and federal agencies are trying to determine what the crystallized material is that remains at the locked down site that - when dry - bursts into flames if disturbed.
And Araiza is trying to determine what is next for the fire department.
Shuffling and hiring temporary personnel to cover the shortfall of the three firefighters is being worked on and should be completed by the end of the week, but it’s been a challenge for the short-staffed SPFD.
Three of the five SAFER grant firefighter positions are open: “We lost one that moved to Australia, and Matt May was injured... Matt Lindsey we had already promoted to engineer.”
Engineers were already lacking in the department and Araiza said he is also hoping to “Hire temporary people out of my reserve program,” that already boosts the department’s ranks.
The SPFD engine underwent decontamination, a tear out and down of everything with a porous surface - from fire hose to seat upholstery - but the work is not guaranteed.
The city is seeking to replace the engine, which was the newest in the city’ aging fleet. A new engine had been ordered earlier this year but won’t be delivered until March and the department still needs an additional unit.
“We put a tent around it,” Araiza said of the engine involved in the SCWW incident while working with the city’s insurance company.
In addition, the city mechanic that worked on the fire engines “Is now out with symptoms similar to our firefighters... he was out there for the cleanup,” of the engine when it was still at SCWW.
Santa Paula Firefighters are concerned about Bustillos, Lindsey and May as well as the mechanic.
“The department,” said Araiza, “is reeling, it really is,” and their distress over the health of their coworkers has been compounded by an older duty engine also going out of service.
“The engine having some issues is one of our reserves and we have to send it out to be serviced,” by the county, which Araiza said, “Has really stepped up to help us out,” including the county’s mechanic department chief who lives in Santa Paula.
“It’s just too much though, I’m extremely upset,” Araiza said. “I’ve lost some of my best firefighters, who are all like family... we’ve known each of them forever and the members of the SPFD are very close, especially so because we’re a small department.”
But one that does a lot: they respond to about 2,400 calls a year, ranging from fires to medical emergencies which they are trained as EMTs to handle. Firefighters also conduct safety inspections on businesses and other buildings and do outreach programs for school children and seniors.
The SPFD also responds as mutual aid to incidents, such as the one they were first on the scene for at Santa Clara Waste Water.
Said Araiza, “For all this to happen when our firefighters were just doing their jobs - were most concerned with saving lives - is just devastating... “
