One year after a fatal accident that involved a Warrenton police officer colliding with another vehicle and killing the driver, local emergency responder agencies say they have used the tragic mishap as a way to remind those responding to an emergency to justify the speed they are traveling. Department heads said they used the wreck as a learning tool as discussions were held afterward to review their own policies in a profession where fast response times and the speed traveled by responding cops, firefighters or paramedics must be weighed. “Obviously in our business, time matters, but we have to get there,“ Warrenton Fire Chief Mike Owenby said. “We tell our folks, don’t become part of the problem.” According to 2010 national statistics provided by Owenby, 16 fatal accidents involving fire trucks responding to calls were reported, while one fatality occurred when a truck was returning to a fire station following an emergency call. In comparison, 20 firefighters were killed at the scene of a fire, while 19 died in other incidents while on-duty. The Warrenton police officer involved in the wreck, Kyle Smith, was responding March 14, 2010, to an emergency call when his patrol car collided with another vehicle that had turned into his path on Highway 47 at the intersection of Ash Road. His lights and sirens were activated. The other driver, Donald L. Wood, 59, of Warrenton, was killed in the crash. Smith was driving between 87 and 99 mph, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol crash reconstruction report. The posted speed limit in the area where the crash occurred is 50 mph. As part of a deputy’s response to an emergency call, Sheriff Kevin Harrison said the officer must follow department guidelines that weigh the nature of the call, the severity and public safety. Harrison acknowledged that deputies have been involved in accidents caused by overdriving, including times when officers sustained minor injuries. Discussions are held regularly on code responses to review the various situations encountered by deputies and that discretion must be used by the officer. “It’s literally a matter of seconds,” Harrison said. “It (last year’s wreck) was a reality check. It could have happened to any of us.” The sheriff’s department and ambulance district also have the same type of automatic vehicle locators that can be reviewed in real time by each agency’s supervisors to check a deputy or ambulance driver’s speed. The tracking system was implemented in spring 2010 and can also be viewed by 911 dispatchers. Warren County Ambulance District Administrator Ralph Hellebusch said the type of situation determines how fast an ambulance responds to an emergency call. For example, he said a driver will “push hard” when a call involves somebody in cardiac arrest, an unresponsive individual or an injury to a child. “It’s just a judgment call and what type of call is coming in,” Hellebusch said. “After it happened, we had some discussions,” he added. “Was it avoidable? Was it not? It’s something we do after any critical accident.” Following last year’s fatal wreck, he personally changed his driving habits. He automatically puts his turn signal on now when he approaches traffic making a left-hand turn as an additional way to alert motorists behind him. Owenby, meanwhile, said firefighters must endure hours of driver training before actually being allowed to drive a truck on an emergency call. He noted that prior to the fatal wreck, the Warrenton fire district was already in the process of making firefighters go through the certification process with all of the department’s vehicles. A variety of classes that a firefighter must pass include driving and written tests. The department’s emergency response policy states that a driver must not exceed the speed limit by 10 mph. Also, firefighters watch a fellow crew member’s actions during a response and speak up if a situation warrants it. “We make sure what they are doing is acceptable,” Owenby said. Immediately following last year’s fatal wreck, Smith was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation conducted by the city. Nearly two months after the wreck, Smith was fired. According to departmental policy, speeds for responses shall be restricted to 10 mph over the speed limit on city streets and 15 mph on all state-maintained roadways unless the responding officer can justify operating at a speed that exceeds those guidelines. No criminal charges were filed against Smith. Prosecutor Mike Wright noted that one of the factors he considered was that Smith was an officer responding to an emergency situation. The aftermath of the wreck led to litigation as Wood’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Smith and the city of Warrenton. The $376,370 settlement reached between Wood’s family and the city’s insurance provider was the maximum allowed under state statute.