Two firefighters testify mold caused illnesses

[Guest guest]

Tuesday, 09/27/05

Two firefighters testify mold caused illnesses

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20050927/NEWS03/509270332/1017/NEWS

Fire hall concentrations were at safe level, Metro lawyers say

during trial

By SHEILA BURKE

Staff Writer

Nashville,TN

Before he says he got sick, Berry noticed a problem with water

in Metro's West End fire hall.

Water was visible running down the walls and dripping from the

ceiling in a bedroom area, and on some days the moisture was so

profuse that it could be wrung out of the bedclothes, the former

firefighter testified yesterday.

A year later Berry recalled seeing " black goo " in vents in the

hall's bedroom area.

During that time, Berry said, he had constant sinus problems and

headaches. But his health got worse when he began to suffer

breathing problems, he testified.

Eventually, he went to a doctor who advised him to stay away from

the fire hall.

" He said, 'Something's happening.' He said, 'You've been around

something that's making you really sick.' "

Berry, who said he can no longer work because of his health, blames

toxic mold for causing his problems.

He and Roy , a Nashville firefighter who also claims he got

sick, are airing those allegations in a trial that opened yesterday

in son County Circuit Court. Both men and their wives sued

Metro claiming that they were repeatedly exposed to toxic mold and

that city officials failed to act after receiving numerous

complaints from firefighters.

Metro lawyers, however, maintain that science doesn't back up the

pair's claims.

They argue that both men have had allergy-like symptoms because they

suffer from numerous allergies, and mold — at least according to

their own doctors — isn't one of them. The lawyers also point out

that environmental studies performed at the fire hall show that

overall mold concentrations are higher outside the fire hall than

inside.

But yesterday, Berry testified that before Metro conducted an air

quality test, the fire hall was aired out and large fans, normally

used to pull smoke out of a burning building, were used at the

building on West End Avenue.

But whether that airing out ever happened is under dispute, and

experts gave conflicting testimony on whether it would have skewed

the results of the test if it had happened.

The trial is set to resume this morning before son County

Circuit Judge Walter Kurtz. The judge alone will decide the non-jury

case.