3:49 a.m. - A Hebron woman was recently told by North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance that she wouldn't get any compensation in the death of her husband, a volunteer firefighter who died on the job.

George Raber, 69, suffered a heart attack July 10 while fighting a 400-acre grass fire southwest of Hebron. Fellow volunteer firefighters tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead after being transported to the Richardton Health Center.

After his death, George Raber's wife, Aloha, filed a claim with North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance for death benefits including funeral expenses. The maximum death benefit is $250,000. All fire departments in North Dakota are insured by the state agency.

Later, Aloha Raber received a letter denying her claim. It said "no evidence has been received to indicate that George Raber's death was caused by his employment nor has any evidence been received to show that unusual stress was involved."

The family is appealing the decision.

Aloha Raber didn't return a phone call for comment. She told her attorney, Michael Halpern of Glen Ullin, that it was too early to talk about her husband's death, but she signed a release form permitting Workforce Safety and Insurance to talk to a Tribune reporter about the claim. Claim information is confidential and the insurance agency cannot discuss it without signed consent.

Workforce Safety and Insurance spokesman Mark Armstrong said cases involving volunteer firefighters are complicated.

Legislators revised a "rather complex" statute last year, he said. Before the change, the insurance agency only paid out if "unusual job-related stress" was a major factor in a volunteer firefighter's death. Now they're suppose to pay out for all on-the-job deaths.

Armstrong said they applied the old law in Raber's case, and determined that he didn't qualify.

Workforce Safety and Insurance is currently taking another look at the claim because of the new law and new medical information. The insurance company recently asked Raber's doctor for information about his patient's condition before the heart attack and possible causes of the heart attack.

Armstrong didn't know why the old law was applied or why the medical information wasn't gathered before denying the original claim. A second decision is expected in the next couple weeks.

"It's not unusual that we will reverse ourselves with additional medical evidence," he said.

Darrell Graf, a firefighter and friend of Raber's, criticized Workforce Safety and Insurance's tactics.

"If they needed more information they should of asked for it rather than give the family another devastating blow," he said. "The man puts his life on the line and dies and the family has to go through this."

Halpern also opposed the decision.

"It's not the money so much as it just feels like there ought to be compensation for the death of a volunteer firefighter fighting a rather severe fire that endangered homes," he said.

Graf, Halpern and Hebron Fire Chief Terry Dokken said the conditions were very stressful the day Raber died. The fire index was in the extreme category, it was hot and windy and the blaze was heading toward two farm houses. Raber stepped out of the fire engine to look at a faulty water pump when he suffered a heart attack.

"I feel it's a legitimate claim," Dokken said. He said Raber was "always healthy" and didn't have a history of heart problems.

During his 41 years with the Hebron Fire Protection District, Raber held every position including fire chief and missed only one firefighters' meeting. He was the oldest man in the department.

"He was a big part of our department," Dokken said. "It (Raber's death) was tough to take"

(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)