Wife of injured city worker tells story of the last day he was on the job jured

Letter to the Editor,

The city worker who lost his hand is named Darrin Rabe, not Robe, and, apparently, the loss of his hand is not punishment enough. 

Before the accident, the city administrator and the field supervisor were speaking of how Darrin is a great worker, and they were lucky to have him. 

For the record, Darrin was hired for the position because he is highly qualified. The accident of Darrin’s left hand was not due to the brush on the sweeper, it was the fan located inside the sweeper. 

The machine given to Darrin the day of the accident had not been ran for almost two months, would not start the day before, had no breaks the day of and was not sweeping properly because of the amount of debris inside. All factors were considered when Darrin went to fix the machine so he might finish the job. 

The day before the accident, the sweeper would not start because of a vapor lock, so they replaced the fuel filter. The emergency reset switch kept popping out for some reason, and hours later, they eventually got the sweeper started. 

The day of the accident, Darrin started working on the driver’s side, which is the suction side of the machine. He checked the tube, and that side was not the problem. 

Darrin then proceeded to the other side of the blower, which is where the fan is located. He then detached the tube and cleaned out what was there in the tube, he looked up inside the machine where the fan blows air out or down the tube. Darrin chipped away most of the debris, and in the lower corner of the channel there was a concrete or clay-like debris that was blocking air flow, which, when removed, would allow more suction of the head on the sweeper. 

Mind you, the fans are located approximately a foot-and-a-half up the channel. 

There were two tools available to fix the machine, provided by the City, which was a shovel handle and a screwdriver, both of which are considered tools for cleaning out the machine. The shovel was no use in cleaning out this particular area, therefore he had to use the screwdriver to remove the material in the lower corner. 

After chipping away what he could, he noticed a large chunk of debris still stuck in the corner of the channel and when Darrin went to chip it away, it all happened so fast! 

The screwdriver was grabbed by the fan, grabbing his jacket sleeve and then his hand. Fortunately, Darrin is a strong man and was able to pull his arm out before it ripped anymore of his hand off. The normal-sized person would have been left with nothing. 

Darrin is alive today because of his sister who happened to stop and empty her sweeper and use the restroom. She rushed him to the hospital as Darrin pinched off his main artery for survival. 

Darrin did not want to see his fellow workers have to do the job on their own.  Anyone who knows Darrin would say how meticulous he is and how he gives 120 percent in everything he does. Darrin has worked around machinery his entire life and is not one who would just stick his hand in a dangerous machine. 

The paper reported city workers said the loss of his job has no relation to the accident, if this was the case, the City would have fired him before the accident. 

According to the city administrator firing Darrin was strictly due to still being on his probation period, and they just need to get the job done. It is unfortunate the City did not hire a temporary worker to replace Darrin until he was able to go back to work. 

Darrin did nothing to lose his job with the City outside of not being able to fulfill his duties at this time because of the loss of his hand. Darrin had more devotion to his job than the City had faith in his return. 

Darrin was trying to buy a house for his family and planned to retire with the City, becoming a permanent resident of Libby. All this could have been avoided if money would have been spent on maintaining the equipment properly.

— Larlie Rabe

Wife of Darrin Rabe