By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews
Attorneys for the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District’s insurance carrier have responded to allegations in a $6 million negligence lawsuit against it, contending a firefighter/paramedic driving the ambulance involved in a January fatality was not at fault.
Instead, the attorneys say the Waldport woman who died in the collision with a South Lincoln Ambulance caused the accident because she was under the influence of methamphetamine and driving too fast and carelessly.
The district and a related nonprofit ambulance company are being sued for $3 million each by Heidi Stocker of Waldport, the mother of Kelsey R. Seibel, 25.
Seibel died when her car slammed into the side of the ambulance after it pulled out onto U.S. Highway 101 from the fire station’s driveway on Jan. 11. A passenger in Seibel’s car, Fokus Simmons, 17, of Waldport was severely injured in the crash and remains incapacitated with severe brain injuries.
Stocker’s lawsuit claims that Yachats firefighter/paramedic Casey Wittmier drove directly in front of Seibel’s Kia Soul and had not activated the ambulance’s overhead lights and siren when he pulled out from the station’s driveway.
An Oregon State Police investigation quoted Wittmier as having turned on the ambulance’s lights but not the siren so it would not bother neighbors, as instructed by administrators.
Under a year-to-year contract between the fire district and the nonprofit ambulance organization, the ambulance is staffed by Yachats fire district firefighter/paramedics. It is believed to be the only such type of arrangement in Oregon.
The fire department’s two administrators, Frankie Petrick and Shelby Knife, also control the ambulance nonprofit as its secretary and president.
Although attorneys for Simmons filed notice in February they intend to sue the district and ambulance company, they have yet to do so.
Stocker filed her lawsuit Oct. 16 in Lincoln County circuit court. She is represented Yaquina Law in Newport. South Lincoln Ambulance is being represented by a Seattle law firm. The Small District Association of Oregon, which provides the fire district’s insurance, has hired attorneys from a Portland firm to represent it and the insurance company — and to keep the fire district board informed of its work.
Allegations on crash
Kurt Peterson, the Portland-based attorney for the Small District Association, briefed the Yachats fire board for the first time Nov. 11 in an executive (closed) session and filed a rebuttal to the lawsuit on Nov. 14 and a “request for admission” to Stocker’s lawyers on Nov. 25.
Peterson said the collision resulted from Seibel’s “own fault” because she was under the influence of methamphetamine, driving carelessly and endangering people by “slowing and pulling over past the fog line, appearing to yield to the ambulance which had its light activated and then speeding up and pulling back into the lane of traffic towards the ambulance that was turning, causing the collision.”
Peterson’s description of Seibel’s driving comes from an Oregon State Police investigation that interviewed Wittmier and what he saw before the collision.
The state police report also said the funeral home which received Seibel’s body found a vial of crystal meth in her clothes. The Oregon State Medical Examiner conducted toxicology tests on Seibel. That report has not been released publicly although Peterson would have access to it.
In his response, Peterson said Seibel’s estate is not entitled to damages because she was driving under the influence, driving carelessly and recklessly, driving too fast and not yielding the right of way to the ambulance, among other violations.
Seilbel’s estate is seeking $3 million in non-economic damages and $3 million in economic damages from fire district and ambulance nonprofit. In his response, Peterson contended her estate is not eligible to recover noneconomic damages under Oregon law because Seibel was driving under the influence. As for economic damages, Peterson said Oregon law limits damage awards from governments to $500,000.
In his Nov. 25 “request for admission” to Yaquina Law attorneys, Peterson asked them to admit that Seibel was driving under the influence of methamphetamine and that her driving – everything from initially swerving to speeding to not wearing a seatbelt – caused the accident. Peterson also alleged that Seibel had given or sold methamphetamine to Simmons and that he was also under its influence.
Peterson said that Seibel had 1,200 ng/mL of methamphetamine and 160 ng/mL of amphetamine in her system and “that her intoxication is the cause of the accident.”
The legal and scientific communities have not been able to establish a level of methamphetamine in someone’s system that correlates to the standard .08 blood alcohol level for drunken driving. But generally, scientists consider a methamphetamine concentration of 20 to 200 ng/mL and an amphetamine concentration of 270-530 ng/mL to be associated with impairment.
Stocker’s attorneys have until Dec. 25 to respond to Peterson’s admission request.
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