N.S. firefighter who died flagged safety issue with instructor: incident summary

New information shared with thefamily of a firefighter who was killed at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverleyreveals that Skyler Blackie informed his instructor the expired fire extinguisher he was using had rust on it, but was told to use it anyway.

The revelationcame this week after the Blackie family reached out to the provincial Labour Department for more information on the 28-year-old's case.

Blackie, a full-time firefighter with the Truro Fire Service,diedin March 2019 after the expired extinguisher he was using exploded during acertification exam.

"Thatshouldn'thave happened ever," Blackie's sister Jessica Gillis told CBC's As It Happens.

A court case resulted in the school admitting in 2022 that it failed to perform routine inspections and keep adequate records.

The Blackie family recently learned the training facility received 41 new safety recommendations as a result of a third-party review.

The Labour Department said 22 "high-risk activities" were noted by occupational health and safety officers, and the "Safety Branch continues to work with firefighters' school to achieve compliance."

The family has not received a fullcopy of the third-party review.

Blackie's brother, Errison Blackie, is also a firefighter. He was at the training schoolwhen the incident occurred.

"We heard the explosion. We heard a staff member call for medical, in which case I ran over to Skyler," he recounted to CBCNews.

"I came to find him on the ground with his mask shattered and bloody. Took off his mask with other staff members at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School, in which case we saw Skyler was breathing and identified that he was my brother."

Skyler Blackie died after 11 days in hospital.

Gillis said the family requested more information this week andwassent an "incident summary." She shared that report with CBC. It describesthe incident in detail.

"Blackie successfully donned his equipment and chose the correct type of extinguisher. He observed some rust on the bottom of the extinguisher but was assured it was alright to use from the instructor," the summary said.

"However, when he charged the cylinder with propellant (compressed air), the bottom of the extinguisher blew out, and the top of the extinguisher struck him in the facial area, causing a fatal injury."

The summary said the extinguisher had been donated to the school by a shutteredImperial Oil refinery. Its last annual inspectionwas dated 2014, and its last hydrostatic inspection was in 2004.

As It Happens6:42N.S. firefighter killed during training exercise was using a rusty fire extinguisher, family says

Five years ago, Nova Scotia firefighter Skyler Blackie died following a routine training exercise when the fire extinguisher he was using exploded. It was expired and hadn't been inspected since 2004. His family has since learned from a Department of Labour incident summary that Blackie observed rust on the extinguisher when he picked it up, but his instructor told him to use it anyway. Blackies sister, Jessica Gillis, spoke to As It Happens guest host Catherine Cullen.

It said both the manufacturer's specifications and National Fire Protection Association require hydrostatic testing at 12-year intervals. In this case, those tests were out of date by more than three years, the summary said.

"The person proctoring the certification was never made aware that the extinguisher had never been inspected by the staff person normally responsible to conduct such inspections," the summary said.

It went on to say the person responsible for conducting thoseinspections was on leave at the time and the school never tasked another personto be responsible to ensure inspections were performed and that equipment that failed to meet inspections was removed, nor did they have a process to do so.

The summary said as part of the followup investigation, the extinguisher was inspected by a representative of the manufacturer, who advised that the extinguisher would have failed inspection because of the amount of surface rust.

Gillissaid the summary "was incredibly difficult to hear."

"It's really hard to accept that. Our family previously did know that the inspection stickers on that extinguisher were expired," said Gillis.

"To know that it could have easily been preventable by acknowledging that rust or acknowledging the stickers were out of dateis really difficult to comprehend."

The Labour Department declined an interview request on Thursday.

In a statement to CBC News, the department confirmed it shared the summary with the family.

"We always try to share as much information with families as possible without jeopardizing the case," the department said.

The school's response

The family had previously told CBC News they want the school to close, but they now saythey want a change in leadership and for the school to close in the interim while that change is made.

The Nova Scotia Firefighters School declined an interview with CBC News earlier this week, and did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.

In a public written statement, executive director John Cunningham said the school is "actively implementing changes to our operations and safety policies to create a safer training environment for all firefighters."

He said the organization is committed to continuing improvements.

But Gillis isn't buying it.

She noted Cunningham has never spoken with her family directly about the incident, even after a judge provided an opportunity for him to do so following the school's sentencing.

"I think that just goes to show that he doesn't hold any accountability for how he runs his school and the lack of safety," she said.

Gillis said her brother was someone who loved to help people. He started working at a local community centre at a young age, was a lifeguard and became a volunteer firefighter at age 18.

"[Firefighting] was his passion, and I think all those things just speak to what an incredible person he was, what a giving person he was," she said.

WATCH |N.S. firefighter who died flagged safety issue with instructor: incident summary:

New details emerge about firefighter's death at N.S. firefighters school

1 month ago

Duration 2:30

Skyler Blackie was using an expired fire extinguisher when it exploded on him. His family learned this week he had alerted instructors the extinguisher was rusty right before he died. Angela MacIvor has the story.