Family suffers ‘irrevocable damage'
Fire school sentenced for safety violations in firefighter's death
Truro firefighter Skyler Blackie texted his wife after he arrived at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School on March 9, 2019, to take a certification course for which he had been prepping for months.
“(Skyler) told me he loved me and that he would text me when it was all over,” Erin Blackie said in a victim impact statement she delivered in Dartmouth provincial court April 26 at the Waverley school’s sentencing on a pair of safety charges.
“I told him he would crush it and I loved him too.”
Two hours later, she got a call from Skyler’s younger brother, Errison, who was also a firefighter and was at the school that day as well.
Skyler, 28, had suffered serious head injuries when a fire extinguisher exploded in his face. He was transported to the Halifax Infirmary, where he died 11 days later.
“In an instant, my life as I knew it was over,” Erin told the court.
“My best friend in the whole world was gone: my husband, my biggest cheerleader, my gym partner, my travel buddy, the man that was supposed to be the father of my children. He was just gone.
“Everything I wanted my life to be was taken from me that day. But more importantly, everything Skyler wanted for his life was taken from him.”
After a 20-month investigation, the provincial Labour Department laid a pair of Occupational Health and Safety Act charges against the fire school in November 2020.
The school pleaded guilty last September to failing to recertify a used fire extinguisher and failing to ensure employees were aware of the hazard of using an extinguisher with an expired inspection certificate.
On April 26, Judge Bill Digby imposed a $123,000 financial penalty on the school.
The sentence consists of a $20,000 fine and a $3,000 victim fine surcharge. The judge also ordered the school to make an $80,000 donation to the labour minister’s education trust fund or establish a bursary in Blackie’s memory to help volunteer firefighters train at the facility.
The school also must make three safety presentations over the next 18 months at a venue to be worked out with the Labour Department. The presentations will be recorded for use by the department as a safety resource.
Blackie, who lived in Debert, began his career as a full-time firefighter with the Truro Fire Service in October 2013 after almost five years as a volunteer with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency in Fall River.
The fire school is a not-forprofit organization involved in training and certifying firefighters from throughout
Atlantic Canada. The school employs about 14 staff. Most of its students are volunteer firefighters from rural communities.
CERTIFICATION CHALLENGE
According to an agreed statement of facts, Blackie was challenging his Level 1 certification at the school, a common occurrence for experienced firefighters.
The mishap took place while Blackie was being evaluated on how to put out a propane fire using a dry-chemical type of extinguisher. Students are required to demonstrate the ability to dress in proper protective clothing, choose the correct type of extinguisher from a pile, inspect the extinguisher, charge it with a propellant, and use it to put out a fire.
Blackie successfully donned his equipment and chose the correct type of extinguisher. But when he charged the cylinder with compressed air, the bottom of the extinguisher blew out, and the top of the device struck him in the face.
The extinguisher that exploded was one of several donated to the school following the closure of the Imperial Oil refinery in Dartmouth. The extinguishers had not been inspected, serviced or maintained by the fire school, and no records were kept regarding the donated devices.
The extinguisher in question had not had an annual inspection since 2014, and its last hydrostatic testing was done in 2004. Hydrostatic testing is required at least every 12 years.
Following the incident, the extinguisher was inspected by a representative of the manufacturer, who advised it would have failed inspection because of the amount of surface rust.
EMPLOYEE WAS ON LEAVE
The fire school normally has a full-time employee whose job is to ensure maintenance and inspection of equipment used by students is kept up to date. But that employee was on a leave of absence in March 2019, and the school relied on other measures, including an expectation that the instructor in charge of each training session would double-check extinguishers.
“The fire school acknowledges that additional and increased measures should have been put in place to ensure that inspections of the fire extinguishers were taking place and to ensure that the absence of its employee did not compromise the safety of trainees,” the statement of facts says.
Crown attorney Alex Keaveny sought a financial penalty of $123,000, saying the fatality was “foreseeable and avoidable.” Defence lawyer John Shanks said a total penalty of $83,000 would be more appropriate.
At the start of the hearing, the judge expressed his condolences to Blackie’s family, friends and community.
'EVERY LIFE IS PRECIOUS'
“It’s a terrible tragedy,” Digby said. “We’re discussing here what the consequences are. What we’re not discussing is putting a monetary value on the life of Skyler Blackie. Every life is precious.”
Five members of the Blackie family read impact statements to the court.
Erin Blackie said her husband was the most incredible person she’s ever met and was passionate about firefighting.
“My hope is that the person or persons responsible for this unforgivable incident hear my statement today and… realize what irrevocable damage they have done to the lives of everyone who loved Skyler and the beautiful life they stole from this Earth,” Erin said. “And (that) they use that to better themselves every day."
She said carelessness, failure
selfishness to follow protocol and claimed Skyler’s life.
“There is no sentence that could ever correct this,” she said. “Skyler cannot come back. But I hope you take my words into consideration when trying to find the most appropriate
establishment sentence possible for an that is ultimately responsible for the lives of so many.”
Errison Blackie said his life revolves around guilt.
“My brother made our dreams of becoming firefighters a reality,” he said. ‘There isn’t an aspect of my life that I don’t owe to him. … He protected me more times than I
can count. The day he needed me the most, I was unable to help him.
“Three years later, I continue to do the job we both loved with a smile on my face. However, I now live every day asking why I get to live out our dream and not him. That is what I feel most guilty about.”
Jessica Gillis said her brother was an outstanding man.
“It wasn’t until we started to enter young adulthood that I truly appreciated the strong, compassionate person that he was,” she said. “One of my great regrets and fears is that he will never know how much I truly admired him because I waited too long to tell him.”
EXTRAORDINARY HUMAN BEING
Cheryl Ann Blackie said her son was an extraordinary human being who was kind to others.
“He was from early on in life well beyond his years, an old soul really,” she said. “He stood up for those who could not stand up for themselves. He had the power of putting a smile on someone’s face, even in their darkest days. He truly lit up a room.
“He was such a role model of kindness, understanding and encouragement to so many children and adults alike.”
She said firefighters realize there are unknown dangers every time they respond to a call, but her son died at a facility where he believed he was safe.
“I fear that without change — real change — this could take another precious firefighter’s life, fear that overwhelms me, because that firefighter could be another part of my life and the other half of Skyler’s.
“I cannot lose another son to this senseless neglect.”
Blaine Blackie, Skyler’s father, said there isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t cry.
“It’s so hard to enjoy all the good things that we have in our life, knowing he’s not there to enjoy them with us,” he said. “We all will have scars on our hearts for the rest of our lives.
“Losing him at a place that is supposed to teach safety first, while ignoring the rules themselves, is inexcusable. I will never be able to forgive them for that.”