Calgary Herald

FAMILIES SUE AFTER WORKERS DIE OF BURNS

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Two employees were killed when an elevator filled with superheate­d, “flesh-boiling” steam at a Westar Energy plant in Kansas this summer, according to a federal lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday on behalf of the children of Damien Burchett, who died June 3 alongside Jesse Henson at a plant near Topeka. The family is suing three companies that manufactur­ed and maintained the turbine and valve. Westar is not named in the lawsuit.

Burchett and Henson took an elevator to investigat­e a loss of steam at a safety relief valve, which is supposed to vent steam outside the plant if the pressure gets too high.

“Upon the elevator door opening on the 14th floor, (the men were) engulfed in flesh-boiling steam that had filled the room,” the lawsuit said. “(Burchett) was exposed to the steam release and suffered severe burns that caused him to endure a horrific death.”

Investigat­ors determined the steam relief valve had either been ripped apart or failed altogether, allowing the steam to fill the room, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit names Team Industrial Services, Emerson Electric Co., and Siemens.

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