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Friday, September 8, 2017 • Vol. 4, No. 7 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1
Jason Geiger
(608) 277-2167
Fitch-Rona EMS turns 40
House explosion: One year later
Budget process begins with a challenge
Advancements in technology lead to better service
Page 3 Verona Road construction moves to next phase
KIMBERLY WETHAL Star correspondent
Page 5
Schools
First day of school photos Pages 9-11
Sports Photos by Helu Wang
Patricia Plata shows a photo of her damaged kitchen after a house exploded in her neighborhood a year ago.
Getting ‘back to normal’ West boys cross country wins first two meets Page 13
Business
Agrace opens grief support center on Marketplace Drive Page 19
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Neighborhood still recovering from physical, emotional effects HELU WANG Unified Newspaper Group
These days, Chuck and Mary Katic are enjoying a better view from their living room sofa. The Tower Hill neighborhood couple has curtains now, which block the unsightly view of black fabric ensnarled in a neighbor’s tree. It flutters in the breeze, like a flag reminding them of their ordeal of the past year. The Katics know exactly how long the cloth has been there – since 6:43 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. That was when their neighbor’s house in Fitchburg blew up. In an instant, the blast destroyed the home of Brian Grittner, 5573 Cheryl Drive, and two other houses and seriously damaged over 20 neighboring homes in the Tower Hill neighborhood. Five of the residences were rendered uninhabitable. Debris from the blast scattered over a halfmile radius. The Katics could not live in their home, just across the street on Lyman Lane, for six months. PRSRT STANDARD ECRWSS US POSTAGE
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The lot where a house exploded Aug. 25, 2016, is now for sale. The blast blew out all the windows, cracked walls and inflicted other major damage. Repairs and rebuilding took six months, during which time they lived in local hotels. Insurance deductibles and other expenses have created financial burdens to the point that optional purchases – such as curtains for the living room – have often had to wait. The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation report, released last month, stated conclusively it was the result
of a natural gas leak, but because it couldn’t find the source of the ignition, it was classified as “undetermined.” Despite the severity of the damage, the only reported injury was to Grittner, who was hospitalized for several weeks with broken bones and superficial burns. Neither Grittner nor his attorneys, Daniel Rottier and Eric Ryberg, responded to repeated requests for comment for this story. The retired computer programmer’s only public comments on the issue were in a Wisconsin State Journal story last month, and he said he couldn’t believe he was able to survive a blast that took out a half the block he lives on. He’s since recovered physically, and so has most of the neighborhood. But while insurance claims have helped fix the buildings, anxiety and uncertainty are still haunting the residents inside. U n r e i m bu r s e d ex p e n s e s a n d
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Fo r t y l o o k s g o o d o n Fitch-Rona EMS. The Fitch-Rona EMS has come a long way since starting as a volunteer organization with one ambulance truck in Fitchburg in September 1977. Today, it has become a service that employs full-time paramedics, can send electrocardiograms (EKG) to doctors waiting at a hospital and is looking to add a third ambulance as early as 2018, when t h e n ew e s t station on the northeast side of Fitch- Myrland burg is built. Brian Myrland, FitchRona EMS’ chief, joined the program in 2002 as a volunteer who wanted to give back to the community and was intrigued by the idea of working with the EMS. Since then, he’s seen the Fitch-Rona EMS become the second-biggest emergency medical service in Dane County, following only the City of Madison. That means it serves a high volume of people – more than 3,000 calls for assistance each year. In addition to the increase in technology and paramedic staff on each ambulance truck, Fitch-Rona has also had to adapt to changing patterns of care. One example he cited is how paramedics more frequently administer doses of naloxone, more commonly known as narcan, to combat narcotic and opioid overdoses. Another is the year-old pilot community paramedic program, which assists citizens in areas that are underserved and takes pre-emptive measures to keep people out of ambulances in the first place. Myrland said Fitch-Rona is always looking for new ways to do that. “Society has to continue
Turn to FREMS/Page 23
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