Braydon Finkas was identified as one of the original nine people missing at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company after the deadly chemical tank rupture Tuesday.
LONGVIEW, Wash. — As the days go by, the names of more victims of Tuesday’s deadly chemical tank rupture continue to circulate on social media, along with more fundraisers to try and help those victims’ families in the only way many know how.
One of those victims has been identified by friends as 37-year-old Braydon Finkas.
Javier Sanchez was friends with Finkas, who lived in Cathlamet. On Thursday, Sanchez described Finkas as “one of the most selfless individuals you’ll ever meet,” adding that Finkas and his partner, Kaitlyn, were together for 14 years. They had plans to get married and were supposed to take a trip to Italy in a couple of weeks.
Sanchez said Finkas loved his community and did things to try and help it. He had just built his and his partner’s dream home, and now, they are raising money on GoFundMe to try and help Kaitlyn during this tragedy.
Sanchez said not having closure yet makes this all so much more difficult.
“It was that unknown that we’ve been having to deal with that’s been difficult,” said Sanchez. “It was just such an unexpected situation, that you just never expected to go to work and not come home, especially in the manner in which all of that happened.”
He said Finkas was a technician at the plant, and he worked there for around seven years.
Finkas was one of the nine missing who are presumed dead after Tuesday morning’s incident. As of Thursday afternoon, six bodies have been recovered, bringing the death toll up to eight.
“We’ve kind of been in a daze because we don’t really know what had been happening, we didn’t have the answers, it’s just kind of a ‘wait and see what you hear,'” Sanchez said.
It’s not clear if Finkas’ body has been recovered yet.
“As the days have gone by, our hopes have been fading more and more about the situation,” said Sanchez.
For some in the Longview community, the one thing holding them together is prayer.
Angel Herron, who works at Love in the name of Christ, also known as Love INC, explains the impact people are feeling, even if they don’t have a direct tie to a victim.
“It’s just heartbreaking, the families… it’s just everybody knows everybody in this little community and we all love each other and we’re just all praying for the families,” said Herron.
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She said she has a family member who has been working on the recovery at the facility.
“A family member of mine works for CCS, Cowlitz Clean Sweep, and … he’s there aiding in the cleanup, which is also very frightening for his wife and all his daughters,” she said. “He showed up after work, and he said it was pretty gruesome. It’s very sad for him.”
Herron said she worries about his physical and mental wellbeing.
“He’s very stoic, and it’s very emotional for him. He’s a soft-hearted guy and he loves people, and it’s really affecting him,” she said.
Shannon McLain, who is the executive director of the nonprofit Love INC, said their mission statement is to help mobilize local churches, and in times like this, they are doing their best to provide support during this time of grief.
“We’ve been able to see online again the various churches who are saying, ‘So and so went to my church’ … and the grief that comes along with that,” said McLain.
She said they help connect those seeking volunteer opportunities with churches who want that help, and she is trying to orchestrate a meeting at the end of June for local leaders and pastors to come together for pastoral support, and also eventually conduct neighbor to neighbor resiliency training, so the community is more prepared for any possible tragedies in the future.
“We recognize that there’s been such a huge grief that’s happened,” she said.
People can also donate to help first responders by bringing items to the Columbia Heights Assembly, starting at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
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