Fatal Tacoma blast blamed on failure in hose

Tacoma

A mechanical failure in a propane-supply hose apparently led to the massive explosions that rocked the Atlas Castings and Technology foundry earlier this month and caused the severe burns that killed a propane-truck driver, Tacoma Fire Department investigators say.

The investigative report released Wednesday by Deputy Fire Marshal Lee Britt also said two Atlas employees had worked on the propane hose, which is owned by Atlas, before the blast.

"The statements that the Atlas employees worked on the hose are accurate," said Duane Britschgi, Atlas chief executive and president. "What is missing is that they did that at the request of the driver."

Britschgi said that when IXL Transportation Services driver Charles "Chuck" McDonald arrived on the site Oct. 6, he needed a gate unlocked.

"As he walked through the gate to get the hose, he noticed the fitting that makes the coupling to the truck was disengaged from the hose," Britschgi told The News Tribune newspaper. McDonald asked for help with the heavy fitting.

Britschgi said the driver is responsible for making the connection to the truck and checking the hose for safety.

A cloud of propane gas released during the delivery was ignited by a furnace inside a building about 75 feet away.

Edmonds

Officer wounds man as shots exchanged

An Edmonds police officer shot a man outside a motel Thursday morning in what is the second shooting involving an officer from that department in a week.

The officer was on routine patrol around 1 a.m. near the 22100 block of Highway 99 in Edmonds when he saw a "suspicious looking" man and stopped to talked to him, according to Snohomish County sheriff 's spokeswoman Rebecca Hover.

The officer realized the man had a gun. The man disregarded the officer's commands and reached for the weapon, according to police. The 31-year-old officer, who has been with the department about seven years, fired his weapon and then began chasing the man.

Both the officer and the suspect fired shots, but the suspect eventually stopped and was arrested.

The man, an Edmonds resident in his 40s, was shot in the arm and taken to Harborview Medical Center. His injuries are not considered life-threatening, Hover said.

The officer is on paid administrative leave, which is standard after an officer-related shooting.

On Oct. 18, a man suspected of a robbery in Edmonds was shot several times by Shoreline and Edmonds police officers in North Seattle.

Indianola, Kitsap County

Death of seabirds under investigation

The state Fish and Wildlife Department is investigating the death of 209 seabirds found on a beach near Indianola on the west side of Puget Sound at the Port Madison Reservation.

Most of the birds found Sunday were common murres, and about a dozen were Pacific loons. The state agency sent some of the birds to a lab to determine the cause of death.

A Fish and Wildlife official, deputy chief of enforcement Mike Cenci, says the potential causes include disease, pollution or the incidental death of the fish-eating birds in purse-seine nets.

Richland

WASL critic to run against Bergeson

Richland schools Superintendent Richard Semler, who has been a critic of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), has announced plans to challenge incumbent Terry Bergeson, state superintendent of public instruction, in next fall's election.

Semler has lobbied the Legislature to replace the WASL with what he considers more effective assessments. He also says that no one test should be used to decide whether students graduate from high school.

Bergeson earlier announced she will run for a fourth term as the state's top schools official. She has held the post since 1997 and is a strong advocate of the state learning standards, set in the early 1990s, and the WASL as a means to measure whether students reach them.

Semler has been Richland's superintendent since 1997. Before that, he was assistant superintendent in the Issaquah School District and superintendent of the Vashon Island School District.

Seattle

Kids' health care gets $1 million more

A campaign to help more of King County's low-income children receive medical, mental-health and dental services has raised an additional $1 million, King County Executive Ron Sims said Thursday.

The latest contributions, from 17 hospitals, insurers, foundations and other groups, bring the total private donations to the Children's Health Partnership to $3 million. The King County Council has said it intends to match that sum over three years.

The total of $6 million will be used, in part, to find and enroll children in public-health plans, provide dental coverage and find ways to treat childhood behavioral and mental-health problems.

Seattle Times staff and news services