AP IMPACT: For troops in Iraq, shower may be fatal

by Suranee | March 26, 2009 at 08:46 pm

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Some U.S soldiers have suffered from shocks when showering and using electrical appliances in Iraq. There have been at least three deaths and one was of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth.

Army investigators claimed "Maseth's death" was because of "negligent homicide caused by KBR and two of its supervisors." KBR's spokeswoman Heather Browne has denied these allegations.

The first lawsuit against KBR was by the family of the deceased soldier Sgt. Ryan Maseth. A second lawsuit was made against KBR and another contractor Arkel International by the family of Staff Sgt. Christopher Lee Everett who "was killed in September 2005 when the power washer he was using to clean a vehicle short-circuited."

Ron Vance, who served as a sergeant in the California Army National Guard, remembers being knocked out cold in a shower building in 2004 in Taji, Iraq. He said he screamed and fell while showering, suffering burns on his back and shoulders. Another soldier who tried to pry him from the shower head also was injured. Vance, 57, of Fresno, Calif., said he's still too traumatized to shower without his wife nearby.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., called Task Force SAFE's findings troubling. He said the task force is doing good work but said problems should have been fixed much earlier.

"Just imagine getting the news that they've done 25,000 facilities, but your son or daughter is in the 65,000 they haven't done," Casey told the AP.

Last year, 94 troops stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan or other Central Command countries sought medical treatment for electric shock, according to Defense Department health data. KBR's database lists 231 electric shock incidents in the more than 89,000 facilities the company runs in Iraq, according to military records.