By Graeme Zielinski
San Antonio Express-News

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A federal judge has sided with Bexar County in its defense of its emergency response to the chlorine cloud-producing train crash of 2004, even while a lawyer for two survivors of the deadly wreck said Wednesday his clients would appeal the ruling.

Survivors Wayne Hale, 72, and Mary Hale, 69, had been joined in a lawsuit against the county by three volunteer firefighters who claimed that their constitutional rights were violated when they were stopped from efforts to rescue the Hales in their Southwest Bexar County home after the June 28, 2004, crash.

In it, a Union Pacific train collided with a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train in Macdona. A train worker was killed and a cloud of chlorine gas drifted into nearby homes, killing three of the Hales' relatives and injuring more than 50 people.

The Hales settled claims with Union Pacific for between $2 million to $5 million.

In the federal suit, meanwhile, the Hales were seeking damages, alleging their constitutional rights to due process were violated when the unified command at the scene stopped what was viewed as a freelance effort by the volunteers to rescue them. The Hales then waited for hours for rescue.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge W. Royal Furgeson granted a motion by county lawyers seeking summary judgment, a clear legal victory for the county. His order describing his legal rationale behind the ruling is expected later in the week.

Charles Frigerio, a lawyer for the county, interpreted the decision as the last word on the propriety of what emergency responders did that day.

"It's vindication for all the emergency rescuers that were present at the scene," Frigerio said.

The suit, filed in 2006, initially named several other defendants, who were peeled off bit-by-bit and the case itself was ordered into mediation talks.

Carl Mixon, now a trainer with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office and then the emergency coordinator for the county, described the lawsuit, one of several filed, as part of a "long, frustrating process."

"Because as a response between various agencies, this is one of the better-coordinated responses we've had in Bexar County," said Mixon, who was among the incident commanders.

"Those (hazardous materials) teams literally risked their lives on more than one occasion to rescue them," Mixon said.

Philip Ross, the lawyer for the Hales and the three volunteers, said he was hopeful that an appellate court would hand the case back to Ferguson with an interpretation over the constitutional claims made in the suit. He also maintained his clients' position.

"I think the law was pretty clear that the county was liable to my clients for their damages for interfering with private rescue and county firemen," Ross said.

Copyright 2008 San Antonio Express-News