One month after DPW worker’s death in extreme heat, family seeks update, answers from city

One month after the death of Ronald Silver II, a DPW worker who collapsed on the job on a day in early August when temperatures neared 100 degrees, his family urged Baltimore officials to release details about what happened to their loved one on that tragic day.

Family members gathered at City Hall on Labor Day to remember Silver, a 36-year-old father of five, and to demand information about any ongoing investigation as well as updates on any developments related to what the city has uncovered so far about his death.

“Unfortunately, we have heard virtually nothing from the earliest days,” said Thiru Vignarajah, who is representing the Silver family, in an interview Monday.

Beyond “a gracious call” from the city extending its condolences and a heads-up when a law firm was hired , “the silence has been surprising,” Vignarajah said.

The Office of the Medical Examiner said in early August that Silver succumbed to hyperthermia, which happens when the body is dangerously overheated. But family members want to know about how the day unfolded and how a distressed Silver ended up ringing the doorbell of a stranger begging for water.

While the city has held at least one hearing on Aug. 22 where members of the Baltimore City Council grilled the Department of Public Works about its workplace culture, facilities and response to Silver’s death, and hired a Washington, D.C., law firm to review the agency’s safety practices , the family said Monday that it has not received an update as to the progress of the investigation.

The family has heard unofficial, private accounts of what happened, but Vignarajah said that information does not take the place of communication from the city.

“What are they finding? We think a month is an appropriate timetable,” he said, to share updates with the family and the public.

The city did not immediately respond to a request for a statement about the family’s concerns.

Despite additional safety training for workers and a recent day when trash and recycling services were paused to protect crews from extreme heat, Vignarajah said the family’s patience for the city’s investigation to come through is running thin.

“It’s not like they’ve done nothing — we appreciate the acknowledgment that those are dangerous conditions in which to work,” he said.

But what the family is looking for, he said, are concrete measures to prevent this from happening again, specifically an after-action report similar to the approach that was taken in the wake of the Brooklyn Day mass shooting last summer.

“After that horrific tragedy, [the Baltimore Police Department]  did an internal investigation and within two months, released a comprehensive report, acknowledging the mistakes that it made and also talking through the steps that were going to be taken going forward.”

Until that happens, he said, Silver’s family members are unable to move forward.

“They are undergoing the incredibly difficult process of healing, and being left in the dark does not help.”