METH LAB DANGERS HAVE FIREFIGHTERS ON ALERT, WARY

Tier Lucky In Avoiding Tragedy So Far

Grown men running from their homes, both engulfed in flames.

Babies with chemical burns they will have for the rest of their lives.

Firefighters, overcome by toxic chemicals and heat, being rushed to
emergency rooms.

Not only have methamphetamine fires and explosions killed cookers and
innocent children across the nation, but the potential for a meth-fueled
blaze puts many people at risk, including law enforcement officers,
firefighters and other first responders such as emergency medical services
personnel.

And some of the local soldiers on the front line of the battle against
drugs said the absence of a major meth-related accident in the Southern
Tier can be attributed to one thing: luck.

"We've been really lucky so far," said William H. Standinger III, an
Owego-based state police investigator who has been involved in nearly half
of the state's meth lab busts. "Anytime meth is being cooked, you have the
potential for a major problem."

Increasing meth use has been a concern to law enforcement agencies
throughout the state and country over the past five years. From 1999 to
2004, Tioga County was tied for the most confirmed meth labs in the state,
with 29.

Across the country, more than 2,000 meth labs have been found in the past
five years because of a fire or explosion, according to the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration. There have been more than 70 meth-related fires
this year across the nation, according to the DEA.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported there were 1,791
meth-related spills, fires or explosions from January 2000 to June 2004 in
the states that report those types of incidents, including New York.

To date, meth-lab accidents have injured about 1,000 people, more than half
of them first responders. At least nine children have died in explosions.

Oklahoma reported 133 meth-related fires from 2000 to 2004; officials,
citing new tougher state laws, said there haven't been any in 2005. Before
the new law, which restricts public access to pseudophedrine, officials
estimated as many as 35 percent of the state's fire were related to meth.

Standinger, who also is a Tioga County fire investigator, said there have
been a handful of meth fires in Tioga County since officials began noticing
more labs around the turn of the century. Volatile chemicals and an open
flame, two of the main keys to making meth, leave very little margin for
error before a fire occurs.

"Inevitably, they'll use a flammable liquid," Standinger said. "If they're
using kind of an open flame, then sooner or later there's going to be a
fire. We're lucky we haven't had a big one yet."

Firefighter Safety

The extra danger inherent in fighting a meth-lab fire has forced county
officials to take a hard look at keeping volunteer firefighters safe.
Standinger and other experts have worked with fire departments and EMS
crews to go over the characteristics of a meth fire, and also indicators to
recognize that a meth lab is burning.

That awareness is important for any firefighter, said Frank Okrasinski,
chief of Owego's Southside Fire Department.

"It is a big concern," said Okrasinski, also Tioga County's chief fire
investigator. "It's an overall safety issue and it's important that all
firefighters need to have that awareness."

Standinger praised the work of Tioga County Fire Coordinator John V. Scott
for taking a proactive approach to training fire departments.

Depending on what chemicals are inside a house, firefighters may have to
adjust their method for extinguishing a fire.

"As they fight a fire, they need to know what's in there," Standinger said.
"If you put lithium in a puddle of water, it's going to catch fire."

Many of the solvents used in meth-making produce fumes and vapors that can
penetrate a structure and cause an unexpectedly fast collapse. These are
details that can help save a firefighter's life, Standinger said.

Incidents In The Tier

Standinger recalled a trailer fire about two years ago in Chemung County. A
neighbor reported the blaze after the occupant fled. When a fire
investigator entered what was left of the structure after the fire was put
out, he was immediately overcome by exposure to anhydrous ammonia, one of
the key ingredients in a popular method of cooking meth.

The investigator did not suffer a serious injury, but the incident hinted
at the devastating effects of a meth lab fire or explosion, Standinger
said. If the fire hadn't occurred in the dead of winter, the outcome might
have been tragically different, he said.

"It was cold and that's probably what saved him," Standinger said. "We've
been really lucky so far."

Standinger said it's possible some Tier fires have been related to meth
labs but the connection was never discovered because investigators didn't
know what to look for.

Before attending specialized meth training in 2001, Standinger investigated
a fire on Robinson Hollow Road in Richford. An unoccupied trailer had
caught fire.

Fire investigators initially couldn't figure out what caused the blaze.
Standinger, however, caught sight of something that didn't belong in an
empty trailer: several aerosol cans punctured with holes, a tell-tale sign
of a meth lab.

"We had to get the awareness level out there, so if people come across
these things, they'll be able to identify what it is," Standinger said.

Burn Victims

Shawn Yetter, Tioga County's commissioner of social services, said his
department has not yet seen children with meth-related burns. Of the more
than 30 Tioga County busts in past years, seven or eight have resulted in
children being removed from a home.

"We have been lucky," he said. "We've taken kids to emergency rooms to get
checked out, but we haven't had serious injuries."

Area hospitals haven't reported patients in their burn units related to
meth accidents. United Health Services officials reported no patients being
treated for burns or people seeking addiction services who have been
treated for burns in the past year.

Treating victims of meth-lab burns has been costly in other states,
particularly since most victims do not have health insurance. There have
been reports of treatments for one victim costing more than a half-million
dollars.

Looking Ahead

Police intelligence is a strong ally in fighting meth, but many labs are
discovered only after they blow up, causing serious injuries and thousands
of dollars in property damage.

The only way to eliminate the threat of such fires is to eliminate meth labs.

Law enforcement authorities say they hope Tier residents will learn to
recognize the signs of meth-making so they'll be able to report suspicious
activity.

One problem is that meth addicts have a heightened sense of paranoia and
will go to great lengths to hide their operation from neighbors, Standinger
said.

Standinger said carelessness contributes heavily to meth explosions. A user
may invest a lot of time and effort on security and secrecy, but the
overwhelming urge to finish a batch and get high can lead to a user cutting
corners and being careless -- a sure way to cause a fire.

"The potential is always there," Standinger said. "It could be just a
matter of time."