CHEYENNE - The widow of a man paralyzed by a workplace injury who later died of pneumonia is entitled to workers' compensation death benefits, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled in an opinion issued Thursday.

Wilma Fisher, surviving spouse of David E. Fisher, had appealed an adverse ruling by the workers' compensation hearing officer and Big Horn County District Judge Gary Hartman.

David Fisher was seriously injured on Oct. 1, 1993, while working for Western Sugar Co. The accident left him a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair.

The Fishers moved to Pocatello, Idaho, to be closer to family members who could help in his care.

During the afternoon of June 22, 2005, Fisher, then 74, went into his bedroom, where he had a wheelchair-accessible work table where he built model planes and trains.

When he came out, his wife noticed the room was thick with smoke.

When she tried to get her husband out of the house, he was uncooperative and said he could put out the fire. He was too heavy in the wheelchair for her to move him, so she ran next door and called the fire department.

Firemen found David Fisher unconscious with his wheelchair wedged in the hallway.

He was revived and was hospitalized for smoke inhalation. He died 19 days later of pneumonia. The cause of the fire never was determined.

The unanimous Supreme Court opinion, written by Justice William Hill, noted the court has not dealt with a case exactly like this before, but there was case law in similar cases.

The attending physician's report said Fisher's chronic weakness from the paraplegia made him unable to recover from the effects of smoke inhalation.

"It is uncontradicted that it was the paraplegia that resulted in Mr. Fisher's death and that but for the effects of his workplace injury, he most likely would have fully recovered from the effects and consequences of the smoke inhalation," Hill wrote.

The court sent back the case with orders to pay Wilma Fisher workers' compensation death benefits. The amount was not specified

Under current state law, workers' compensation death benefits are based on the state's average monthly wage and paid for a maximum of 80 months following the worker's death.

Contact Joan Barron at joan.barron@trib.com or by phone at 307-632-1244.