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E-mail StorySurvivors will need more surgeries, may be moved
| Friday, Jul 27 2007 11:26 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Jul 27 2007 11:26 PM
Two men remained in critical condition while a third was in serious condition Friday evening at Kern Medical Center following a deadly explosion Thursday at the Mojave Air & Space Port, a hospital spokeswoman said.
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The men were injured during an explosion at Scaled Composites that happened during a “routine cold-flow test of the oxidizer system we’re developing for SpaceShipTwo,” according to a statement on the company’s Web site.
Two employees, Eric Blackwell and Charles Glen May, died at the scene.
The Kern County Fire Department declined to release information about surviving victims.
Mark Nations, an attorney with the county, said he wasn’t “aware that the individuals have a privacy interest that would preclude the fire department from releasing their names.”
Hospital officials would not release the victims’ names or ages during a Friday morning news conference at Kern Medical Center.
But a relative identified one as Evgeniy Gisin, 26.
“He went through a lot,” said his brother, Vitaliy Gisin, a trained medical doctor from Russia. “He looks good for what he went through.”
Vitaliy Gisin said his brother was in critical condition Friday afternoon.
Evgeniy Gisin has worked at Scaled Composites for nearly two years.
His mother, Irina Gisin, became teary Friday morning as she talked about her injured son.
“I hope he’s going to be OK. He was dreaming to become a pilot,” she said. “He was happy with the company. He did what he likes.”
Four men were flown to Kern Medical Center Thursday.
They were given precautionary decontamination treatments in an isolated room before being treated in the emergency department, said county fire Battalion Chief John Silliman.
Emergency personnel were confident the men had only been exposed to nitrous oxide, which vaporizes quickly.
The injured men were hit with shrapnel from carbon fiber and metal, said Dr. Kenneth Kaylor, the hospital’s trauma program director.
Victims’ injuries were similar to what happens when improvised explosive devices go off, he said.
One patient, Todd Ivens, died in intensive care after surgery.
The surviving three men have broken bones and hand injuries. All require additional surgeries, Kaylor said. The trio are in the intensive care unit or an observation unit, Kaylor said. They will stay at Kern Medical Center for now but may be sent to a Fresno burn center. Two of the three men aren’t stable enough to be transferred.
Scaled Composites’ was founded in 1982 by Burt Rutan. In 2004, his SpaceShipOne, a manned rocket plane, launched into space several times within two weeks to capture the $10 million Ansari X Prize.
A condolence message was on the X Prize Web site Friday: “It is a sad reality that pushing the boundaries of exploration involves great risk. These people are true pioneers and it is our hope that the spirit of exploration they embody will live on.”