State DFW fined in death of 1970 R.A. Long grad
Saturday, February 23, 2008 6:34 AM PST
By The Daily News and The Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articleOLYMPIA - A state agency has been fined $4,200 for the death of a Longview native who was hit by the spinning blades of a helicopter.
In addition, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife must add aircraft safety rules to its accident prevention program.
The agency was penalized this week by the state Department of Labor and Industries for the death of 55-year-old R.A. Long graduate Rocky Spencer on Sept. 8.
Spencer was hit by the rotating blades of a helicopter when he got out of the chopper in the Yakima River canyon north of Yakima. Officials said the helicopter landed on a slope, causing the blades to point downward more than usual.
Spencer, the state's carnivore expert with the Department of Fish and Wildlife was killed while helping to relocate bighorn sheep near Yakima to a Washington State University research facility.
His brother, Scott Spencer of Castle Rock, told The Daily News in September that Rocky had a life-long love of the outdoors and often said he had the best job in the world.
"He always told me he couldn't believe he got paid for it," Scott Spencer said. "He loved the job and the great bunch of people he worked with."
Rocky Spencer was raised in Longview and graduated from R.A. Long High School in 1970. He attended Western Washington University and volunteered each summer with the wildlife department to gain experience.
Spencer often returned to this area for visits and was one of the presenters at the Youth Outdoor Adventure Expo last spring at the Cowlitz County Expo Center.
??? wrote on Feb 23, 2008 8:35 AM:
Hide Behind wrote on Feb 23, 2008 11:58 AM:
Why should the cost of the job at hand be deducted from that jobs needs and given to another branch of the same bureaucracy to be put back into a fund that both branches draw from?
Fire the individuals for negligence and let the survivor or relatives of the one so harmed bring suit against ex-employees individualy for their negligence.
If it is criminal negligence then let the state prosecute and private entities sue them for such, not have posability of covering over by "fining' one of their own agency versus agency.
Enough of these incompetent state employees or agencies actions that harm the citizens to be sluffed off as if it was a Corporate at fault and not an individual decision maker within that entrprise.
"
Why not? wrote on Feb 23, 2008 4:24 PM:
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