CU heavily damaged in explosion, firefighter killed

WESTCHESTER, Calif. (3/28/08)--An explosion Wednesday afternoon at an intersection near Los Angeles International Airport killed one firefighter and critically injured another, and caused significant damage to Water and Power Community CU.

No credit union employees or members were hurt in the explosion. The cause of the explosion and the specific extent of the damages are yet to be determined, Linda Heidtke, marketing director at the Westchester-based credit union, told News Now.

"We had had two credit union members and three staff members in the building at the time of the explosion," Heidtke said. "No one was hurt. However, the branch will be closed for some time.

"Our members are being directed to two of our nearby branches or to the shared branching system of the Credit Union Service Center system for their banking needs," she added.

Water and Power implemented its business continuity plan in the aftermath of the explosion and "it worked beautifully," Heidtke said. "Our call center was flooded with phone calls, but we were able to get word out about the explosion to our members on our website and were able to e-blast a message to our members."

Water and Power CU and the Los Angeles Firemen's CU have established a memorial fund through the Fire Family Foundation, a 501(c) 3 foundation, to honor Firefighter Brent A. Lovrien, the Los Angeles firefighter who lost his life.

"Our deepest sympathy goes out to the Lovrien family and the Los Angeles firefighters of Station 95. Their heroism saved the lives of our Westchester branch employees," Carl Stewart, Water and Power president/CEO, said in a press release issued by the credit union.

"We are forever grateful to Brent Lovrien, to firefighter Anthony Guzman, who remains hospitalized, and to the rest of the L.A. firefighters and police who came to our aid," he added.

courtesy of cuna.org