VALE, Ore. (AP) -- A firefighter driving a van with seven colleagues had a blood alcohol content over the legal limit when they were all killed in a collision Aug. 24, according to court papers filed Thursday.
Mark Ransdell had a blood alcohol content of 0.13 percent, records said. Oregon's legal driving limit is 0.08.
Prosecutor Daniel Norris filed several charges, including reckless endangerment, against the company that employed the firefighters, alleging supervisors knew that large amounts of alcohol were being purchased but didn't intervene.
An attorney for First Strike Environmental Co., David Terry, called the charges ludicrous.
The firefighters were returning from an Idaho forest fire when the van crossed a double yellow line and struck a tractor-trailer head-on in eastern Oregon. The two truck occupants survived.
Norris said crew members had purchased beer at a Vale convenience store minutes before the crash. Officials also found evidence the crew bought beer at a Cascade, Idaho, gas station.
Terry said that supervisors were unaware of any possible wrongdoing. Company officials also questioned the accuracy of the blood alcohol tests, contending that the fire may have skewed the results.
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