BOISE, Idaho — One week after a Boise Airport jet hangar collapsed killing three men, the families of two of the victims have retained legal representation, vowing to hold everyone responsible for the incident accountable.
"We will hold every single entity who contributed to this horrific accident responsible for their actions and will seek justice on behalf of all of those who grieve today," said Enrique G. Serna owner of Serna & Associates PLCC.
Craig Durrant, 59, Mario Sontay Tzi, 32, and Mariano Coc Och, 24, died from blunt force trauma sustained when the hangar that was being constructed at the time, collapsed.
On Wednesday, Serna & Associates PLLC, a personal injury law firm based in both Idaho and Texas, said in a statement that it had been hired to represent the families of victims, Mario Sontay Tzi and Mariano Coc Och. Both men are originally from Carcha, Guatemala.
Serna, said they plan to get information from all entities involved, including local, state and federal authorities.
"Idahoans deserve better, Mario and Mariano (Alex) deserved better, all of those who today are injured and recovering deserve better, and we believe in the justice system in Idaho," Serna said. "We will seek the maximum damages that a jury will award, will hold everyone that contributed to this horrific tragedy responsible, and justice will be served."
Additionally, the firm will seek to enter the site with their own experts and engineers to determine the cause of the structure collapse, according to the statement. Serna stated the firm will not provide nor discuss information regarding the case until after all necessary evidence has been collected and those who are responsible have been decided.
Serna added, "How can a company with such a published history of workplace violations (Big D) be allowed to work at the Boise Airport on a project of such magnitude? Who would want to engage in business practices with them?"
Hangar collapse incident
On Wednesday, Jan. 31, three men died when the airport hangar collapsed as construction workers were active on site. Nine other people were injured in the incident. The last update provided on those injured, was that five of the nine were in critical condition.
Members from Boise Fire Department, Boise Airport, Ada County Paramedics and Boise Police Department took turns addressing the public in a news conference Friday, recognizing the disaster and applauding the first responders.
Officials also briefly discussed the status of the collapse investigation - essentially stating that they could not discuss much, as the incident is actively being investigated by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
According to Idaho Secretary of State records, Big D Builders was the construction company building the hangar at the time of the collapse. The brother of Big D Builders' owner was among the dead.
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Inland Crane was hired to assist Big D Builders in the building construction. According to a statement from Jeremy Haener, Vice President of Inland Crane, a crane was working to place an end truss when the hangar collapsed "due to an unknown structural failure."
Haener said the crane boom snapped on impact. Inland Crane originally had four cranes at the location to build the hangar, but the steel erection contractor requested for three of the cranes to be removed with a majority of the work done by Wednesday afternoon.
"Justice will be served for the grieving families of Mario and Mariano (Alex)," said their legal representative.
Enrique G. Serna announced he will hold a news conference on Friday, Feb. 9, at 11 a.m. via Zoom.
KTVB will provide the latest information regarding this story and the ongoing OSHA investigation as information becomes available.
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