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John Hollenhorst reportingOne year ago tomorrow, a house exploded in Utah County, killing a Questar gas employee and a young mother set to move into the house. Today, legal maneuvering surrounds the effort to fix the blame, and a little boy is still waiting for answers.
It's an empty lot now. The little flags seem ironic, warning of a buried gas line. A year ago, the Roper family's brand-new home blew sky high when a company drilling for a new phone line punctured the gas line. April Roper died along with Larry Radford of Questar gas.
A year ago, we met 11-year-old Chandler Frischknecht, Larry Radford's son. They hadn't seen each other in two years, until they suddenly set up a reconciliation dinner, the night before the blast. Hours later, Chandler's Dad was dead.
"I was glad to see my dad one last time," Frischknecht said.
Jennifer Frischknecht, Chandler's mom, said, "He has dealt with it, I think, better than any other 11-year-old could. He's been very mad. He's been very angry. We've had to work with channeling that in a way where he can get some release without having it affect different areas of his life."
Questar Gas, Qwest Communications and several subcontractors settled out of court, only with the Roper family, for an undisclosed amount of cash. Questar also agreed to revise policies and procedures and to lobby with the Ropers for tougher pipeline safety laws.
Questar spokesman Chad Jones said, "The important thing is we settled. And the sequence of events that took place in Saratoga Springs may never be known. But we all agreed that it was important that we focus on making sure that this happens never again."
But there's still no resolution for the heirs of Questar's Larry Radford, and that leaves an 11-year-old boy still hoping to be told it wasn't his dad's fault.
The Radford heirs have a tougher case, because he, as a gas company employee, may have been partially to blame. But Chandler's Mom says a subcontractor laying the phone line was at fault.
"Not only were they unlicensed, the worker that was on the project at the time was an undocumented worker," Jennifer said.
She says Chandler deserves compensation just like the Roper family. "Not that a life can be replaced and not that money at all will in any way compensate for the loss he's receiving, but that will help him as he processes the tragedy as he gets older."
There's still no settlement, so a lawsuit looms. A spokesman for Qwest said today he cannot answer any questions about the case because of pending litigation.
