Oregon firefighters' employer accused of alcohol related death

By Jim Greene

Published on September 28, 2005

The families of Richard Moore and Leland Price are suing First Strike Environmental Company of Roseburg, a private emergency response company, for $25 million. The men were among eight killed when the driver of their van tried to pass another vehicle and collided with an oncoming freight truck as the crew returned from 11 days of firefighting in the Boise National Forest. The suit claims the company allowed the men to obtain alcohol and ordered the exhausted crew to speed home.

Also named in the suit is Swift Transportation, owner of the freight truck.

Criminal charges were filed, then later dropped, against First Strike, invoking Oregon's corporate responsibility law, which allowed the company to be charged with drunk driving, reckless driving, and reckless endangerment. The charges were based on preliminary findings that the driver of the van was legally intoxicated at the time of the crash. Later blood tests showed blood alcohol content below the legal limit, prompting charges to be dropped, due to inconsistent evidence.

Other crews accompanying the ill-fated van said that, while beer was purchased earlier in the day, it was placed in coolers and not consumed. The plaintiffs allege beer was inside the vehicle and the driver was drunk.

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