Rescuers save two Amarillo painters

Two Amarillo contractors are lucky to be alive after succumbing to toxic fumes in a rural Donley County location last week.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said Ricky Lovato and his son, Jerry Wayne Lavato, were working at Melvin Edes place east of Clarendon last Tuesday, March 30, and did not return home when they were expected. Worried relatives called the sheriff’s office, and
Deputy Vincent Morasco was dispatched to the worksite.

Upon arrival, Morasco found the two men unconscious in the basement where they had been spraying lacquer – a highly flammable substance that emits toxic fumes. The deputy immediately called for EMS and for the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department’s Rescue Squad and also instructed the dispatcher to launch two helicopters.

Morasco, Chancey Cruce, and Deputy Kelly Hill were able to get the younger Lovato out
of the building, and volunteer firemen suited up and rescued the father. CPR had to be performed on one of the subjects.

Jerry Wayne Lovato was transported by Associated Ambulance Authority and then by Lifestar to Amarillo, and Ricky Lovato was transported by ambulance and then by AeroCare to Lubbock.

“Due to the swift work of deputies and the fire department, it is believed both men will make a full recovery,” Sheriff Blackburn said. “There’s no doubt they would not have survived if the deputy hand not checked on them. The deputies, firemen, and EMS need to be commended greatly for a job well done.”