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Dead firefighter's family supports court settlement
Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Oct 11/06) - The family of a firefighter killed in a shed fire last year hopes the establishment of
a court-ordered training fund will prevent the deaths of any more Yellowknife firefighters.
Sisters of firefighter Kevin Olson, from left, Christina Olson and Teri Howatt, attended a memorial service
in Yellowknife in March to pay tribute Olson and Lieut. Cyril Fyfe, who were killed in the line of duty the year before. -
NNSL file photo |
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Charges against the city and deputy fire Chief Darcy Hernblad for failing to take reasonable safety precautions and providing
adequate safety training were stayed last Friday in favour of an agreement that will see the city commit $300,000 over 10
years to a safety training fund.
The agreement also calls on the city to report on the fund's progress to the NWT Worker's Compensation Board (WCB) every
six months, and for Hernblad to undergo a competency test by an expert panel.
The charges were laid following the tragic fire on March 17, 2005, that claimed the lives of Lieut. Cyril Fyfe and firefighter
Kevin Olson.
They were killed after a shed roof at the Home Building Centre collapsed on top of them while fighting a blaze inside.
The Olson family has been highly critical of how the fire was handled. Four firefighters were on the roof of the small
shed trying to cut a hole through it when it collapsed. The Olsons believe it was a training exercise gone awry.
Christina Olson, Kevin's sister, said now that charges have been stayed and an agreement with the city has been reached,
it can only lead to better training and tighter safety precautions for the Yellowknife fire department.
"We feel that it's a very good thing," said Olson, whose brother was 24 and was only in his second week on the job when
he was killed.
"It's a guaranteed outcome. They're (the city) taking responsibility and all the residents have to know that in their capital
(newsletter).
"They're forced to pay the $300,000 that's only for the use of the fire department, and that Darcy Hernblad will receive
a competency test, training and then another competency test to see if he's even fit to run a fire department."
Olson said she doesn't mind that federal prosecutors and the WCB reached an agreement with the city instead of pursuing
a guilty verdict in court with no assurance of a conviction.
"This is a guaranteed outcome that hopefully will make it so that it doesn't happen again," said Olson. "It will make Yellowknife
a better place for those firefighters."
Olsons said, however, that there is still a lack of public disclosure regarding the various investigations into the firefighters'
deaths.
While Friday's agreement for the first time provides a timeline of events during the early morning hours of March 17, 2005,
several reports on the incident remain hidden from the public.
Olson said all reports on the incident - including those written by the WCB, the city and the NWT fire marshal's office
- should be made public.
"I think the public needs to be totally aware of how exactly the events played out that day... so that people understand
what happened," said Olson.
Fyfe's family members declined to comment. Lieut. Craig Halifax, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters
local 2890, said firefighters weren't prepared to issue an response to the agreement at press time.
Mon, September 11, 2006
Calgarian Honoured
Tribute paid to fallen firefighters
By BILL
LAYE, CALGARY SUN
To the strains of the Last Post, thousands of people -- including the family of a Calgary man killed in a Yellowknife blaze
-- took time to remember the firefighters who've died while helping others.
The ceremony, held yesterday on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, was to honour this country's more than 800 fallen firefighters,
including six who died in the line of duty in 2005.
Calgarian Christina Koy, whose brother Kevin Olson perished that year after a burning hardware store's roof collapsed on
him, said receiving a memorial medal with his name engraved on it was hard.
"As soon as they brought the medal forward it was pretty emotional," Koy said yesterday from Ottawa.
"It was really beautiful ... they honoured those six guys really well."
Olson, 24, died March 17, 2005, just 10 days after starting in Yellowknife, while Cyril Fyfe, an 18-year department veteran,
died later in hospital of injuries he sustained in the blaze.
Safety charges were laid against the City of Yellowknife and its top fire officials in connection with the deaths.
As a crowd of more than 2,000 firefighters, family members and the public bowed their heads yesterday, a trumpeter played
the Last Post, followed by three fire bells -- the symbolic ringing of the Last Alarm.
Koy said she and her family were particularly grateful when Public Security Minister Stockwell Day, the event's keynote
speaker, chatted with them and passed on greetings from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"Stockwell Day told us his thoughts were with us -- and the prime minister was thinking about us -- and he knew about my
brother's story," Koy said.
"He was sincere and made a special point of coming to talk to us."
For more information on the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation, log on at www.cfff.ca.
The Calgary family of a young firefighter killed on the job in Yellowknife last year says workplace safety charges laid
Friday validate concerns they've harboured for 12 months.
"We know what happened and were mad right from the start and now it's starting to come out," said Christina Olson, whose
brother Kevin was killed March 17 when a roof collapsed.
The Northwest Territories Workers' Compensation Board has charged the City of Yellow-knife, fire Chief Michael Beauchamp
and Deputy Chief Darcy Hernblad with failing to take reasonable precautions to ensure health and safety and failing to ensure
the adequate instruction of each worker.
The charges, laid under the N.W.T. Safety Act, carry a maximum $500,000 fine, a year in jail or both, if those charged
are found guilty.
"The city has not been served with the charges," said Greg Kehoe, acting city administrator for Yellowknife, speaking for
the city and its fire department. He said the city has no information other than what is posted on the WCB website and couldn't
comment further.
Tanya Fraser, spokeswoman for the WCB, said the city was charged because it has "the ultimate responsibility as the employer."
She added that 12 safety orders were issued to the city at the end of February relating to the investigation of the fatal
fire, but wouldn't provide details.
As the one-year anniversary of Kevin Olson's death nears, his father Brent said the family has been struggling with questions
about what exactly happened that day.
"We knew there were huge problems," he said Friday, surrounded by wife Susan, daughter Christina and her fiance, Rick Koy,
a Calgary firefighter. "We knew there were procedure problems and policy problems.
"None of this should have happened. Our suspicions are being validated."
Kevin Olson was working just his eighth shift with the Yellowknife fire department -- and attending his first fire -- when
he died.
He had moved to Yellowknife after graduating from firefighting college in Vermilion to pursue his dream job. He had been
married just two months, and his 18-year-old wife, Erica, had stayed in Calgary.
Kevin's family has lost contact with Erica Olson. She could not be reached for comment Friday.
Olson and veteran firefighter Cyril Fyfe, who died later from his injuries, were inside a shed next to the Yellowknife
Home Building Centre when the roof collapsed.
Four people -- two firefighters and two volunteers -- were on the structure, cutting holes, when it caved in on the two
men inside.
There had also been a heavy layer of snow on the roof.
Koy said they want to know whether the men on the roof knew Olson and Fyfe were inside the building, and vice versa.
And Brent Olson said they aren't sure whether Kevin, who hadn't even collected his first paycheque, completed his orientation.
They've heard speculation about some of the issues, but hope the truth will come out as the investigation details are released
in court.
While the family knows the charges won't bring Kevin back, they feel it's a battle worth fighting for others.
"If we get justice so no other family goes through this again, then that's good," Christina Olson said.
"If there's a good side," her father added, "it's that there's now a need to be preventative."
Yellowknife is holding a tribute next week to remember the two fallen firefighters, and Koy, Christina Olson and sister
Teri Howatt are flying up to take part.
Representatives from the Calgary fire department -- whom the Olson family credits with helping them through the past year
-- will also attend.
Brent and Susan Olson will mark the day together in Calgary, visiting their son's grave.
"When we were invited, I said on March 17 that's the last place I want to be," Susan Olson said.
She does, however, want to make the trip north once the charges start making their way through court.
kguttormson@theherald.canwest.com
© The Calgary Herald 2006
Charges laid in case of two Yellowknife firefighters who died battling blaze
YELLOWKNIFE (CP) - Safety charges have been laid against the City of Yellowknife and its top fire officials
in the deaths of two firefighters in a blaze last year.
The charges include failing to take reasonable precautions to ensure the health and safety of crews, as well as failing
to properly instruct all firefighters. Kevin Olson, 24, had been on the job just 10 days when he was killed by a collapsing
roof during a fire call in March 2005.
Eighteen-year-veteran Cyril Fyfe, 41, was also injured in the blaze and died later in hospital when his family took him
off life support.
The Workers' Compensation Board laid the charges under the Northwest Territories Safety Act.
© The Canadian Press 2006
Published: Friday, March 10, 2006
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Lack of info frustrates
grieving father |
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Last updated Mar
2 2006 08:51 AM CST
CBC News |
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The father of a Yellowknife
firefighter who died in the line of duty says he's disappointed with the information that's been made available about his
son's death.
Brent Olson says the only clue he has as to what's
been going on is what the territory's coroner and the firefighter's union have told him.
Olson is the father of Kevin Olson, who died last
March when the roof of a burning shed collapsed on top of him. Firefighter Cyril Fyfe was also in the building, and died in
hospital a few days after the accident.
Olson says he hadn't heard anything about the
recent completion of the Workers' Compensation Board report until contacted by the CBC earlier this week.
The WCB has not released the report to anyone,
saying it is being reviewed by lawyers to determine if any charges will be laid under the N.W.T. Safety Act.
Olson says waiting for a year to get the details
of his son's death has been hard.
"As a family, it's been like sitting on pins and
needles, because we're at somebody else's mercy as far as the timeline that all this happens in," he says. "So it's been a
long process. Besides losing our son, it's been very hard to just sit back and wait."
Olson says from the information he's gathered
he feels he has a pretty good idea of what happened that day, and he's just waiting for the facts to become public.
So far, the RCMP and the fire marshal have completed
their investigation. Once the coroner receives the report from the WCB, he will decide whether to write a report or hold a
public inquest. |
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Y'knife handed safety
orders by Workers Compensation Board |
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Last updated Feb
28 2006 02:04 PM CST
CBC News |
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The N.W.T. Workers' Compensation Board has told
the city of Yellowknife to have managers and supervisors in its fire department
re-certified to meet national safety standards.
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Cyril Fyfe died five
days
after being injured fighting
a fire at the Home Building Centre in Yellowknife |
That's just one of 12 orders the WCB has handed
the city in the wake of its investigation into the deaths of two firefighters in Yellowknife.
Kevin Olson and Cyril Fyfe died after the roof
of a burning shed collapsed on top of them on March 17, 2005. Other firefighters
were working on the roof when it gave way.
The WCB has competed its investigation, but says
its report is confidential and has refused to comment on its contents.
Even the City of Yellowknife,
which employed the firefighters, has not been given the report.
The order to re-certify its fire department managers
was part of a separate inspection report of problems with fire safety programs and procedures. That report issued the orders
to the city under territorial safety legislation.
Acting city administrator Dave Devana say the
city is willing to implement the orders, but without the full report, it won't know if the changes will satisfy the WCB.
"It would be helpful to have that, so that we
would know why we're getting each of the 12 orders," he says. "Many of them are to review our existing procedures, and so
we are able to at least review it and determine what we should do next."
The orders also call for independent reviews of
several of the fire department's programs and practices, including management procedures at emergency scenes.
The city has from two weeks to five months to
comply, depending on the order. It has 30 days to launch an appeal.
Devana says the city will be meeting with the
firefighters' union in the coming weeks to decide how to implement the orders. |
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