State Police: Heated water vapor caused fatal VA accident
WEST HAVEN — An accident at the VA hospital last Friday that killed two people caused super-heated water vapor to “rapidly fill the room and building,” a state police investigation determined.
The investigation found there was no fire or explosion, but rather a “pressure event” within the steam system that was being worked on, state police said Thursday
“This event caused superheated water vapor to rapidly fill the room and building. The two occupants working on the system were not able to evacuate the room and suffered fatal injuries,” the Connecticut State Police Fire & Explosion Investigation Unit determined.
The state’s Chief Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled the VA deaths as “accidental.”
Killed in the accident were Euel Sims, 60, an employee of the VA Facility Maintenance Service, and Joseph O’Donnell, a 36-year-old employee of a contractor working on the steam system, state police said.
Sims retired after 21 years in the United States Navy Naval Construction Battalions. Sims, a native of Chicago and longtime resident of Connecticut, was working as a plumbing executive at the medical center when he died.
“He was the example of what we all strive to be. When he left the Navy, his desire was to continue to serve those who served,” Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said Tuesday during a visit to the VA hospital.
O’Donnell, a steamfitter for Mulvaney Mechanical in Danbury, was hired as a contractor.
O’Donnell’s friends set up a GoFundMe page after his death to help support his wife, Chrissy.
“To use the term, ‘larger than life,’ to describe Joey would be an understatement, as he had an immediate and powerful presence,” his obituary states.
According to the obituary, O’Donnell competed in track and field and wrestling in high school in Danbury and remained physically active throughout his life. He was a gifted fisherman and enjoyed hunting, hiking, snowmobiling, motorcycle riding and quad riding.
“He was very skilled and admired by his co-workers for his competence and confidence. He had natural mechanical skills and worked concertedly to master his craft,” the obituary notes.
Three other people reported minor injuries related to the VA incident.
Alfred Montoya Jr., director of the VA Connecticut
Healthcare System, said workers began replacing a leaking steam pipe in an outer building on the campus about 7:30 a.m. last Friday.
The pipe had been replaced by abut 8 a.m., he said, as the line was refilled with steam.
Montoya noted the building was built in the 1940s and 1950s, and described it as a “constant uphill battle” to keep properly maintained.
Operations at the hospital as a whole largely were unaffected, Montoya said. Issues with the heating system were isolated.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will continue the investigation, assisted by state police, the state Building Inspector’s Office, and West Haven police.