February 26, 2010

Painters’ union member rescues six from blaze in Texas

AUSTIN, TEX.

The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades has heralded one of its Texas members as a hero thanks to his daring rescue attempt at the site of a recent suicide attack on an Internal Revenue Service building in Austin.

Robin De Haven, a glazier and member in Texas, raced to the scene of a Feb. 18 plane crash into an office building. Joseph A. Stack, a software engineer angry with the IRS, intentionally crashed his small plane into the agency’s office building containing nearly 200 IRS employees, setting off a raging fire that sent workers running for their lives.

James Williams, IUPAT general president, praised De Haven in a statement for “his quick thinking and bravery” when he used his truck and ladder to conduct a daring rescue in the burning building.

“The men and women of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades praise Robin De Haven for putting aside all concerns for his personal safety and rescuing six people from that burning building in Austin,” said Williams.

De Haven is an American forces war veteran who served in Iraq and joined the union through its Helmets to Hardhats program.

DCN News Services

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