Autopsies, Freedom of Information Act, privacy and firefighting. These are not topics we typically associate with one another.
But the firefighter line-of-duty deaths first in West, Texas, and then in Yarnell, Ariz., have shoved them together into a very tight and tense room. This has grated already raw emotions and brought things like decency and public good into question.
Earlier this summer, the Waco Tribune obtained the autopsy reports of the firefighters killed in the West fertilizer plant explosion and fire in April. It then published a story with graphic details from those reports about how the firefighters died — it went so far as to describe how much money one firefighter was carrying.
Many saw this as a cold slap in the face to the surviving family and friends — I agree.
Here’s where it gets tricky. As many remember, the reports showed that two of the firefighters had elevated levels of alcohol, and one had trace levels of marijuana.
That’s important information. At the very least it should have been a prompt for all fire departments to revisit and reinforce their stands regarding on-duty alcohol and drug use.
The issue of whether or not autopsies are public information is being debated again in Arizona over the 19 Hotshot firefighters who died battling the Yarnell Hill fire in June.
There, a Yavapai County attorney writing for the sheriff’s and coroner’s offices said the privacy interests of the families outweighed the public’s right to know. She won’t release the reports without a court order. In fact, one of the ways a FOIA request can be denied is if releasing the information would invade an individual’s personal privacy.
The Associated Press and other news agencies will likely challenge that ruling. One media attorney said the courts have allowed autopsies in the past — and so a precedent may exist.
FOIA is an important part of our freedom and needs to be fiercely defended. It is one way of holding government accountable. Recent stories that came to light due to FOIA requests include stories of 17,000 bridges in the U.S. going uninspected, federal funding cuts from hazardous materials cleanup projects, and 122 levees in danger of failing.
If the Arizona autopsy reports are made public, I hope two things happen.
First, I’d like to see the media outlets exercise more sensitivity toward the survivors. Just because something can be published doesn’t mean that it should; good taste and decency should guide their actions.
Second, I’d like to see Yavapai County officials redact the firefighters’ names, ages and any physical descriptions that could make them identifiable from the reports. Assigning each a unique number would go a long way toward enabling whatever investigations are needed and preserving a level of decency.
We’ll have to wait and hope that lessons are learned from how the autopsy reports from West were mishandled and that those mistakes are not repeated in Arizona.