Some say firefighter was fall guy

By LEIGH HOPPER and ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA

August 2, 2000 Web posted at: 1:17 PM EDT (1717 GMT)

HOUSTON, Texas (The Houston Chronicle) -- One day after a veteran firefighter lost his job for violating department policy, some firefighters say Sergio Lopez is being made a scapegoat.

"I feel that Sergio did no wrong. He acted appropriately," fire engine operator Paul Knapp said on Tuesday. "I think his firing is a loss for the Hispanic community." Knapp worked with Lopez at Station 18 at 619 Telephone Road.

Lopez, 41, was terminated in the wake of the June 17 death of 12-year-old Daniel Lopez. Lopez visited the station three times that day, complaining of pain in his chest, back and stomach. His relatives say firefighters did not thoroughly examine him. The boy later died at a hospital of an aortic aneurysm.

Knapp, who still works at the station and was there the day Daniel Lopez sought help, said he believes Houston Fire Chief Lester Tyra was under pressure from City Council to fire someone.

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"The kid was talking and appeared in no distress," Knapp said. "The only thing there was vomiting and that doesn't mean anything severe."

Another source, speaking on condition of anonymity, offered his opinion.

"The department is targeting Lopez to make it look like it wasn't a departmental problem, but just an individual."

A report by the Office of the Inspector General, made public Monday, shows that several firefighters had passing contact with the family that day. However, the report concludes that other firefighters present were unaware of "the totality of the circumstances" and had no reason to believe Sergio Lopez was not following standard operating procedures.

Tyra concurred with the report, maintaining that a single firefighter, Lopez, set in motion a chain of events that ended in the death of the Aldine school district sixth-grader.

Furthermore, Tyra said in an interview, had the boy's family dialed 911 instead of walking next door to the fire station, they would have bypassed the firefighter and activated the city's response system.

"If they had picked up the phone and dialed 911, Ladder 18 would have driven around the corner and an ambulance would have been dispatched with them because it was a juvenile," Tyra said. "The factor that really hinged this was the fact that two ambulances were available (2.2 miles away) at Station 25."

Sources close to the Houston Fire Department said Sergio Lopez's wife and daughter wept as they helped Lopez pack up his belongings and told Fire Station 18 staff members goodbye. Lopez, who has grandchildren close to the boy's age, took the news of the death hard, a source said.

The Inspector General's report cited Sergio Lopez for three violations of department policy. The violations were: failure to notify a supervisor of the patient's request for assistance; failure to take the patient's vital signs; and failure to request an ambulance.

Lopez told investigators that he offered to call an ambulance for the family seven times, but that his offer was declined. Relatives of Daniel Lopez dispute that account.

Tyra maintains that even if the family turned down the offer of an ambulance, Sergio Lopez needed to get clearance from a supervisor.

"(Sergio Lopez) should have gotten an ambulance, or the medical director or an EMS supervisor to authorize non-transport," Tyra said. "He did not have the authority to do that."

Valorie Davenport, an attorney representing Sergio Lopez in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the boy's family, said Lopez never had an opportunity to get the boy's relatives to sign a form authorizing nontransport because they were never at the station for more than a few minutes.

Also, because the family kept walking away soon after arriving, he never logged their visit or notified his supervisor, Davenport said.

Questions have been raised about the policy Lopez is accused of violating. Some firefighters say it does not pertain to a walk-in situation, but to a situation when an ambulance already has been called and the patient decides not to be transported.

"He was not on an ambulance run. There needs to be a written policy for walk-ins. Right now there is no place to document or record a walk-in versus an ambulance run," a source said.

But Tyra said there is no difference between a patient who walks into fire station and a patient who calls 911 from home: "We respond as first-responders."

According to the report, a number of other firefighters briefly encountered the family that day.

For example, Paul Knapp told investigators that after he washed down the driveway where the boy vomited, Lopez filled him in on what occurred with the family.

Firefighter Edward Moore told investigators he overheard Lopez tell one of the boy's relatives that he could call an ambulance but there would be a delay. Moore also heard Lopez suggest that the family take the boy to the hospital in their own car, because it would be faster.

Richard Smith, a firefighter who was off duty that day, saw the child when he arrived at the station to pick up some equipment. He said he gave the boy a glass of water and told him to rinse his mouth out.

Asked why he believed Lopez was solely responsible, Tyra said, "The OIG was very thorough, but the report only pointed to Lopez.

"His failure to notify (a supervisor) was one of the first things that went wrong with this incident," Tyra said. "The other two visits (the family made) to the fire station were incidental. If he had intervened the first time, we wouldn't have the other circumstances to deal with."

Tyra, in announcing Lopez's termination on Monday, spoke of the firefighter as having a "distinguished" record.

Assistant Chief Rick Flanagan said, "He had an unblemished record. There's never been any disciplinary problems."

Lopez, a 20-year veteran of the department, was given the option of resigning, but because he is only two weeks away from being eligible for his pension, he chose the suspension so he could legally fight the decision, sources said.

HFD veteran loses job, pension over boy's death

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