-
Putnam County Sheriff's Office seal
A workplace accident at a local shipbuilding business left one man dead and two others injured Monday morning, authorities reported.
Harrison Phipps, 40, died Monday after rescue and medical personnel were unable to resuscitate him, according to a Putnam County Sheriff’s Office press release. The agency reported Phipps had been “fabricating with welding equipment” at St. Johns Ship Building when he became unresponsive, the sheriff’s office said.
Another worker, Peter Olmeda, told authorities he heard Phipps pass out due to “possible exposure to poisonous gas,” the press release stated. Olmeda went to help Phipps but also became unconscious, authorities said.
A third worker, Lucas Nunez, pulled Olmeda out of the hull of the ship on which employees had been working but could not reach Phipps, the sheriff’s office stated.
First responders arrived at St. Johns Ship Building, 560 Stokes Landing Road in Palatka, around 7:30 a.m. where they, too, found Phipps trapped, authorities said.
“Due to the confined nature of space where Phipps was trapped, rescue personnel utilized hoists to free him,” the sheriff’s office stated in the release. “Upon removal from the ship, deputies and rescue personnel attempted life-saving techniques.”
Rescue officials took Phipps to HCA Florida Putnam Hospital in Palatka but he could not be resuscitated, the agency reported.
“The St. Johns Shipbuilding family has suffered a great loss with the passing of Harrison Phipps and the injury to two other of our teammates, Pete Olmeda and Lucas Nunez,” St. Johns Ship Building said in a statement Tuesday.
Authorities said Olmeda was also taken to the hospital and is expected to recover. First responders took Nunez to the hospital for safety precautions, the sheriff’s office stated, but he is OK.
St. Johns Ship Building said it would assess Monday’s occurrence, but its immediate priority is to the families of the people affected.
“Harrison was a hard-working member of our shipfitting team, whose latest tenure at St Johns dates back to January of this year,” according to St. John’s Ship Building’s statement. “Our (health, safety and environment) group has begun a full investigation of the incident, but our primary focus at this time is the support of the Phipps, Olmeda and Nunez families and the wellbeing of all of our St. Johns Shipbuilding team."
The District 23 Medical Examiner’s Office in St. Augustine, which serves Putnam, Flagler and St. Johns counties, will conduct an autopsy to determine how Phipps died, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office is working the death investigation, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been contacted to conduct a workplace safety investigation, the law enforcement agency stated.
“At this time, the death appears accidental in nature and there is no indication of foul play,” the sheriff’s office stated.
This story has been updated to include a statement from St. Johns Ship Building.