SACRAMENTO - A Sacramento radio station fired 10 employees Tuesday, including its three morning disc jockeys, after a mother of three died following an on-air water-drinking contest last week at the station's studios.
The hosts of KDND-FM's "Morning Rave" - who go by the on-air names Trish, Maney and Lukas - were fired a day after the station announced it was suspending the show and investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Jennifer Lea Strange.
Strange, 28, died after participating in a water-drinking contest on the program.
She was one of about 18 contestants who tried to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console early Friday by seeing how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom. The show's DJs called the contest "Hold your Wee for a Wii."
John Geary, vice president and general manager of KDND parent company, Entercom/ Sacramento, made the announcement Tuesday in an e-mail to reporters.
"Effective immediately, the 'Morning Rave' program is canceled and ten employees are no longer with the station."
A company spokesman, Charles Sipkins, confirmed the three DJs, as well as two other on-air personalities, "Carter" and "Fester," were among those fired. Five other employees who worked on the "Morning Rave" also were let go. All 10 were fired, the spokesman said, for violating terms of their employee agreements.
The "Morning Rave" had been on the air for about five years and was one of the capital's top-ranked morning drive programs.
During the contest, participants were given two minutes to drink an 8-ounce bottle of water and then given another bottle to drink after a 10-minute break.
Fellow contestant James Ybarra said he quit drinking after imbibing eight bottles, but Strange, who placed second, and others kept going even after they were handed even larger containers.
In all, according to witness reports, Strange may have drunk nearly two gallons. Afterward, she appeared ill when she went on the air, one contestant said.
Following the contest, Strange called in sick to work. About five hours later she was found dead at her home.
Geary would not say which 10 employees were fired. However, a source at the station told News10 the program director, promotions director and the three morning DJs are among those who have lost their jobs.
"We're going to pull through," a woman who works at the station said. "(The mood) is pretty somber around here. The whole thing is just a tragedy."
Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead in her Rancho Cordova home Friday. A preliminary coroner's report indicated Strange's death was consistent with a water intoxication death.
Strange had taken part in a contest at 107.9 titled "Hold Your Wee for a Nintendo Wii." The contestants drank bottles of water at 15 minute intervals. The last person to go to the bathroom would win a Nintendo gaming system.
Judy Linder, a nurse practitioner, said she was listening to the contest on her way to work on Friday. "I know how dangerous that is so when I got to work I asked if anybody wanted to be on the radio."
Linder said she and another co-worker called the station on speaker phone and were put on the air.
"She (her co-worker) told them it was dangerous and you could die from water intoxication."
Linder says the disc jockey "pretty much blew that off and said well they've signed a release.
"It wasn't until Sunday that Linder heard Strange had died. "I was totally shocked because they (the disc jockeys) had been warned but they should have known better anyway, they should have checked with someone before they did that, you know."
Linder says she wishes she could have done more to prevent Strange's death. "It's just a terrible, terrible thing. I feel terrible."
Strange's husband, William, did not want to comment about the firings but did say he has set up a fund to help with funeral expenses for his wife.
Donations to The Jennifer Strange Memorial Fund Account 3151089345 can be made at any Washington Mutual branch.
Former federal prosecutor Bill Portanova said Strange's family would likely have a solid case against the station. "On the face of it, the radio station has some serious liability exposure," said Portanova.
Portanova said the February 2005 death of a California State University, Chico student may be the station's undoing.
"Every newspaper outlet and radio outlet reported on it repeatedly where a young man at Chico State University drank himself to death with water so it's clear this radio station had some institutional knowledge that that was a possibility," said Portanova.
Portanova said if a lawsuit is filed, the station will likely settle quickly.
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