Teen death leads to outcry over drinking in firehouses

NEWCASTLE, Wyo. -- Nearly a third of this town of 3,000 turned out for the funeral of volunteer firefighter Anndee Huber, a bubbly and ambitious 16-year-old girl whose death in a firetruck rollover did more than break hearts.

The crash angered townspeople and cast a spotlight on drinking in the many small-town firehouses across America that often double as social clubs.

After Anndee's death, the firefighter at the wheel, Ronald Caillier, was charged with drunken driving, and it was learned that the fire hall had a bar.

And not only that, but Caillier had a drunken driving conviction from a year ago. And just a week and a half before the wreck that killed Anndee, he had gotten out of jail on another drinking-related offense.

"It put the whole community in shock," said Mayor Ed Wagoner, himself a volunteer firefighter in this town at the western edge of the Black Hills. "Losing one of our own, and then finding out the charges being filed, there was a lot of anger I had to deal with personally."

Investigators said Caillier did his drinking on the night of the accident at a bar, not at the fire hall. But the tragedy has led to calls for a ban on alcohol in firehouses in Wyoming and elsewhere around the country.

"What happened to Anndee Huber is the worst-case scenario that could happen," said Dave Iannone, publisher of Firehouse.com, a Web site in Hyattsville, Md., devoted to news about firefighting. "The fact that it's a promising young girl just adds to the tragedy so much."

The straight-A student was also a runner and swimmer, sophomore class president, student council representative, football manager and grocery clerk. She wanted to be a lawyer like her older brother.

When her pager went off about a grass fire shortly after 10 p.m. on May 22, she raced out of her home, her Chevy Blazer leaving a trail of dust.

"When she left, she was so happy and she was laughing and giggling," said her mother, Sharon. "She didn't even change her pajamas."

Anndee reached the station, pulled on her gear and climbed aboard a water tanker with Caillier, a 17-year veteran of the department.

On a straight stretch of highway outside town, the wheels slipped off the shoulder. Caillier overcorrected, according to Trooper Earl Gill, and the truck went into a skid and rolled. Anndee was crushed to death under the 25-ton truck.

Caillier, 47, was cut on the face and hands. He allegedly told Gill that he had swerved to avoid an antelope and that he had had three beers earlier in the evening.

The trooper said he interviewed a bartender and obtained Caillier's bar tab and found that Caillier had had five 20-ounce beers in an hour and a half that evening, leaving the bar about 15 minutes before his pager went off.

A blood-alcohol test produced a reading of 0.16 percent, or twice the legal limit.

Caillier was jailed on $20,000 bail on a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide. He could get up to 20 years in prison.

His public defender, Carmen Patterson, declined comment.

Until the rollover, Gill said he had never thought to check whether firefighters were drinking, and has since learned that at many fire departments, alcohol is part of the culture. "You have a big fire and you all come back and have a few beers together," the trooper said.

Iannone said an article about Anndee's death on his Web site attracted 100,000 readers, the most for any story since Sept. 11. Many readers posted messages urging booze be eliminated from fire stations.

"It's just a huge outcry. It's absolutely a wake-up call," he said.

Iannone said that overall, the percentage of fire halls with alcohol and inebriated firefighters is probably small, but "just the fact that it is above 0.0 percent is totally ludicrous."

Clarence Baker, chief of the Newcastle Volunteer Fire Department, predicted the lounge and the keg will be voted out at the department's next business meeting.

"It's a black eye for us," he said. "Therefore I want to remove the black eye."

He said he is also considering having someone screen firefighters before they head to a fire.

In a small town, tragedy casts a wide net. Some of Caillier's children were taught by Anndee's mother, home economics instructor at Newcastle High School for 19 years.

Anndee "was just a smart girl," said Caillier's ex-wife, Cyndi. "She knew she wanted wings. She wasn't sure how to get them yet, but she knew she wanted them."

Many firefighters have dropped by the Huber home.

"Those men have been here just sobbing," Sharon Huber said. "The vibes I get from those guys is this is going to change."

Anndee's death has also prompted some to question whether youngsters should even be allowed to be firefighters.

But Newcastle High Principal Brad LeCroix said the program will continue. "It gives a kid some direction and it gives them some real responsibilities," he said. "It's an extension of the classroom."

Explorer Scouts are not allowed to fight uncontrolled fires. They are allowed to move hoses, take pictures and provide support from a safe distance.

Anndee's father, Gary, is among the staunchest supporters of the program. "They're doing something significant and that keeps them out of trouble," he said. "We've had one bad apple."