OCTOBER 03 -- ROSEBURG, OR: A number of news reports (and subsequent discussion
on message boards) have been posted in the last couple days regarding the blood-alcohol
results of toxicology reports following the fatal crash on Highway 20 in eastern
Oregon that killed eight contract firefighters near Vale, Oregon. Those reports,
however, should not be considered "evidence" that the driver or passengers
were drinking prior to the crash. A convenience store video does show crewmembers
purchasing beer. And surviving crewmembers corroborate that, but they also say
that the beer was in a cooler on top of the van racks. This has been an issue
over the last few years with the survivors of pilots killed in airtanker crashes,
and the subject is on the agenda for this year's annual meeting of the Associated
Airtanker Pilots. It is not unusual for alcohol to be detected during toxicological
testing of aviation accident victims. Post-mortem ethanol production, according
to aircraft crash investigation reports by the Transportation Safety Board of
Canada, is the result of bacterial action after death. The presence of ethanol
depends on various factors, such as the condition of the tested specimen, the
environmental conditions to which the tissues were exposed, and the time duration
before the specimen was recovered. To confirm the conditions for this phenomenon,
testing was conducted on specimens from individuals who would not have been
expected to have ingested alcohol because of age or cultural background. Of
the six specimens tested, five tested positive for ethanol. Microorganisms in
decomposing bodies frequently produce alcohol in amounts equivalent to intoxication,
according to Gary Kunsman, chief toxicologist with the Bexar County (Texas)
medical examiner's office. Kunsman has been involved with cases where the post-mortem
indication of a high blood-alcohol content was an issue. "Post-mortem alcohol
production is a very odd thing," said Kunsman. "It doesn't occur in
all bodies, and it doesn't occur at the same rate in bodies, even under the
same conditions." Microorganisms in the body, including yeast, can produce
alcohol in body tissues after death. Kunsman, who worked for the armed forces
medical examiner in Washington, DC, said post-mortem alcohol levels were often
seen in military pilots killed in aircraft crashes. "You know the pilot's
not drinking," explained Kunsman. "He crashes, it takes a week or
two to locate the body, get him back, autopsy him. And we would find alcohol
levels of 0.2 or 0.3." Bacteria in some areas of the body escape and can
generate ethanol in the blood, brain, liver, and other tissues within a few
hours of death. In his paper "Pitfalls in Forensic Toxicology," T.
Richardson of the Toxicology Lab at England's Manchester Royal Infirmary said
that concentrations can reach 1500 mg per liter within a few days, and physical
disruption of the body can enhance post-mortem alcohol production. Post-mortem
urine and vitreous fluid, however, are largely free of this effect. Though the
possession of alcohol in the van violated the agreement between the contract
firefighters' employer and the Oregon Department of Forestry, the post-mortem
indications of blood-alcohol don't yet indicate intoxication on the part of
the driver or other firefighters.