Sonoma mom turns tragedy into crusade that leads to passage of House bill for burn victims

After her daughter was severely burned in an accident involving a ventless fireplace, Margrett Lewis channeled her inner Erin Brockovich into a six-year journey to spearhead passage of legislation in Congress to ensure other families would not suffer the same terrible fate.

The Sonoma woman led the campaign to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to write new rules for manufacturers of portable fuel containers. They would be mandated to put a simple screen on the spout of their products to reduce the risk of fires and explosions.

The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, was included in a year-end spending package approved Monday night by Congress. President Donald Trump has yet to take action on the bill, which also contains $900 billion in additional economic relief related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Years ago, Lewis went to Thompson with her plight and he has called her the driving force behind the legislation.

“I was warned off by many people to give up before I tried,” said Lewis, who set up her own grassroots lobbying group and the “Not Your Turn to Burn” website to help her cause. “A burn surgeon said it was going to take an act of Congress and that was our joke.”

Lewis was moved to act after a family tragedy in 2014 when her twin daughters were trying to relight a ventless fireplace on their front porch while making s’mores. One daughter tried to refill it with lighter fluid and the other was engulfed in flames, as the vapors ignited akin to a flame thrower.

Lewis rushed to her daughter and hugged her to extinguish the flames. Her injured daughter — whose first name Lewis asked not to publish since she is still recovering emotionally — is now in college studying biology. Some of the doctors have told Lewis her daughter is “a walking miracle.”

Through research, Lewis discovered that the incident could have been prevented if the manufacturer put a flame arrestor on the container spout. The seal would only cost 5 cents, but could provide a sufficient barrier to ignition so that the container doesn’t act like a blowtorch when lighter fluid is poured.

A 2014 study by the National Fire Protection Association found that flammable gas fires resulted in 168 deaths, 1,029 injuries, and $644 million in property damage annually. That added to her determination.

“I want to stop all these injuries of people who are in burn units,” she said.

Thompson was able to draft a bill within months, but Lewis found out it would take a lot more moxie and pestering to persuade Congress to pass the legislation. For that, she would have to think and act like a Washington, D.C., K Street lobbyist. She had to build a coalition and attract allies across political aisles and in both congressional chambers. Meanwhile, the Portable Fuel Container Manufacturers Association spent $50,000 lobbying Congress this year for favorable legislation unlike what Lewis had in mind, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Lewis said she spent thousands of dollars and made 300 trips during her multiyear crusade, meeting with staff of lawmakers, scientists and veterans’ organizations who represented soldiers that suffered burn injuries. Some days, there were up to eight meetings a day.

“The firefighters who have come alongside me have been helpful,” she said. Her advocacy also led to her becoming part of a startup group that makes custom pandemic face masks designed for burn victims.

A positive break in her legislative persistence came when she got U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Florida Republican and military veteran, on board with the bill after a young girl in his state suffered similar injuries to Lewis’ daughter. She was able to persuade him, with the help of the flame arrestor she wore as an attachment to her necklace, to make a compelling point.

Mast lost both of his legs fighting the war in Afghanistan from an improvised explosive device that blew up near him, while he was working as an explosive ordnance disposal technician.

“He’s looking at it and his eyes are shocked. He’s like ’Why in the world would they take that off a consumer product? That’s a bomb,’ ” Lewis recalled of Mast’s reaction.

The bipartisan backing helped the bill gain momentum. It passed the House last year and during the debate a few representatives noted the integral role Lewis played. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois, called her “a fierce advocate for many years,” while U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Missouri, noted her tireless effort on the bill.

“She turned her personal tragedy into passionate advocacy in an effort to prevent others from facing a similar incident,” Long said during a House floor debate.

Lewis is hoping Trump signs the spending package containing the measure she’s fought for, since she would prefer not to take another flight to Washington, D.C., as she did earlier this month. In her latest trip, Lewis was trying to finalize some Senate lobbying — Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota was a key advocate — and was worried about last-minute pitfalls before the key vote. Thompson had kidded her that “you are logging more miles than me.”

She thinks that enough people on Capitol Hill know her by now, and that has helped lend credibility to her cause and soon hopefully success.

“I have become like that mom and they’re all like: ’We need to get this done because she is not going to give up,’ ” Lewis said of federal lawmakers.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.