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| 35-year-old Jose Miguel Cisneros died after he inhaled toxic fumes while he was cleaning a tanker train car in Evans in northern Colorado |
Evans, Colo. (AP) — Authorities say a worker died after he apparently inhaled toxic fumes while he was cleaning a train car in northern Colorado.
The Greeley Tribune reports 35-year-old Jose Miguel Cisneros and a co-worker were found unconscious in a maintenance rail yard in Evans on Tuesday. Cisneros, who worked for EnviroTech Services, Inc. in Greeley, died at a hospital, and the other man’s condition has not been released.
Investigators say the train car had been used to transport hazardous material.
No other information was released.
The EnviroTech Services, Inc. location where the poor worker died in Evans, Colorado is: 6850 47th Ave, Evans, CO 80645
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1 worker with EnviroTech Services, Inc. dead, 1 hospitalized in Evans hazardous material incidents
Tommy Simmons
December 5, 2017
Two men were rushed to North Colorado Medical Center Tuesday morning and one died after first responders found them unresponsive in a train rail car they'd been clearing of a hazardous material.
While names or ages of the men have not been released yet, Stephanie Cooke, spokeswoman for the Platte Valley Fire Protection District, confirmed first responders arrived about 8:30 a.m. in the 6000 block of 47th Avenue in Evans where the two men, who she said were Envirotech Services, Inc. employees, were cleaning a tanker railroad car. Cooke said first responders believe the men inhaled hazardous fumes. Both were taken to the hospital. She confirmed one of the men died and the second was in critical condition, per the last update she received.
Cooke said multiple agencies responded to the incident, including the LaSalle Fire Department, the LaSalle Police Department, the Evans Police Department and the Weld County Sheriff's office, in addition to emergency medical services.
As of late Tuesday night, she did not have any further information about the incident.
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Greeley resident identified as man who died in Evans hazardous material incident
December 8, 2017
This past Christmas, in his family's hometown of Long Beach, Calif., Jose Miguel Cisneros — "Miguel" to his family — gathered his brothers and sister and cousins together and told them they all needed to stick together.
It was a powerful revelation for the family, who had scattered through the years. Cisneros himself hadn't returned to California for 12 years, his family said. But he was the oldest of five children and, his family said, he'd always been the unifying force between them. If he said they needed to stick together, they would.
And they did. In fact, by the time Cisneros died Tuesday in a hazardous material incident in Evans, he'd been making plans to travel back to California for Christmas at the home of his younger brother, Danny Cisneros. Miguel Cisneros was found unresponsive about 8:30 a.m. that morning in a rail yard in the 6000 block of 47th Avenue in Evans, along with one other co-worker. Authorities believe the two men, who worked for EnviroTech Services in Greeley, were cleaning a rail car that had been carrying a hazardous material and inhaled the fumes. First responders rushed both men to North Colorado Medical Center, where Cisneros later died. The second man's condition has not been released, according to a news release from the Weld County Coroner's office.
Danny, who said he saw Miguel — 9 years his senior — as a father-figure, had been on the phone with him that morning before his death.
"I spoke with him on the day of the accident," Danny said. "It was just 'I'll call you back, bro.' I missed a call later (that day) about 9 a.m. I don't know if it was paramedics calling."
Danny and Miguel talked all the time and not just about the good things. Three years ago, in the grip of a difficult time in his life, Danny told Miguel he wanted to kill himself. Miguel, being the father-figure he always had been to his youngest brother, reminded him he had more to live for, especially his kids. As he did for all his siblings when dark times arrived, he reminded Danny everything was going to get better. Life is hard, he'd say, but keep moving forward.
So Danny did, just as Miguel had throughout his life. He left Long Beach at 18 after graduating high school and moved to Alabama, where he took up various jobs such as working at a grocery store or in construction. He made his way to Greeley after that, where he got the job at EnviroTech. His family remembered him as a hard worker who made his two children and his family a priority, and he worked for them.
He'd had a relationship and a child in Alabama, but it was at church 11 years ago he met Maria Cisneros, his wife and the mother of his son. The life they built in Greeley was happy — Miguel worked and in his spare time, he took his family to the mountains because he always wanted to be outside, his son, David, said.
Miguel, like his siblings, spoke both English and Spanish, but Maria is not bilingual. When asked what were some of the things she loved most about her husband, she answered with two syllables, quick and confident: "Todo."
After a brief silence she repeated the word again. It was a statement, a fact.
"Todo" is the Spanish word for "everything."