'If it's an establishment that has the right to continue operating… they should have cleaned house'
The family of a firefighter in Nova Scotia who died in training is criticizing the continued operations of the school where he lost his life.
Skyler Blackie, aged 28, died following a routine training procedure at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley, N.S., in March 2019. On the day of the incident, the expired extinguisher he was using exploded, according to CBC.
"Unfortunately the fire extinguisher he chose was well out of date. It hadn't been inspected since 2004, so we don't know why the fire school would have ever had such a thing there," said Blaine Blackie, Skyler's father in the report.
In 2022, sentenced to pay $102,000 in fines and bursaries after pleading guilty in the death of Blackie, according to a previous CBC report.
Following a third-party review, the training facility received 41 new safety recommendations. And the school is continuing its operations.
This is “unacceptable,” said Jessica Gillis, Blackie's sister, in the CBC article.
"We can't be quiet anymore. We can't hope and wait because hoping and waiting could just lead to another death.”
'I don't want to have to go to a funeral'
Even Chief Blois Currie of the Truro Fire Service – Blackie’s employer – is wary of the Nova Scotia Firefighters School’s continued operations. He has not sent a single firefighter back to the school since Blackie’s death, he said.
"I don't want to have to go to a funeral because another firefighter was killed at the training facility," he told CBC.
"If it was any other organization, they'd probably be shut down until they assured that it was safe. For some reason, they continue to bring people in knowing it's unsafe."
As a result of the case against the school, it had fulfil other court-ordered obligations such as three safety presentations. However, these steps were often delayed and involved minimal effort, according to the Blackie family.
"And they were prompted to do so," said Cheryl Ann Blackie, Skyler's mother.
"If it's an establishment that has the right to continue operating, on that day that Skyler lost his life they should have cleaned house. They shouldn't have had to be prompted to do these things."
Ina The school said that it is "actively implementing changes to our operations and safety policies to create a safer training environment for all firefighters,” reported CBC, citing a public written statement from John Cunningham, the school’s executive director.
