Dead New York firefighter reported safety issue to instructor: Incident summary

New information released to the family of a firefighter who died at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley shows that Skyler Blackie informed his instructor that the fire extinguisher he was using was rusted, but was told to use it anyway.

The revelation came this week after the Blackie family contacted the province's Ministry of Labour, Skills and Immigration seeking more information about the 28-year-old's case.

Blackie, a full-time firefighter with the Truro Fire Department, died in March 2019 when the expired fire extinguisher he was using exploded during a certification test.

“This should never have happened – ever,” Blackie's sister Jessica Gillis told CBC's How it happens.

In a court case in 2022, the school admitted that it had failed to conduct routine inspections and keep adequate records.

The Blackie family recently learned that the training facility received 41 new safety recommendations following a third-party review.

The Labor Department said health and safety officials identified 22 “high-risk activities” and that the “safety department continues to work with the fire academy to achieve compliance.”

The family has not received a complete copy of the third-party report.

Gillis said the family requested more information this week and received a “summary of the incident.” She shared that report with CBC News, which details the incident.

“Blackie successfully put on his equipment and selected the correct type of fire extinguisher. He noticed some rust on the bottom of the extinguisher, but the instructor assured him that it was safe to use,” the summary states.

“However, as he was filling the cylinder with propellant (compressed air), the lower part of the fire extinguisher exploded and the upper end of the fire extinguisher struck him in the facial area, causing a fatal injury.”

The summary stated that the fire extinguisher was donated to the school from a defunct Imperial Oil refinery. The last annual inspection was in 2014 and the last hydrostatic test was in 2004.

It said both manufacturer specifications and the National Fire Protection Association require hydrostatic testing every 12 years. In this case, those tests were more than three years out of date, the summary said.

“The person overseeing the certification was never informed that the fire extinguisher had never been inspected by the employee normally responsible for conducting such inspections,” the summary states.

It added that the person responsible for conducting these inspections was on vacation at the time and that the school never appointed another person to ensure that the inspections were carried out and that equipment that did not meet inspection requirements was removed, nor was there a process for doing so.

The summary states that during the subsequent investigation, the fire extinguisher was inspected by a representative of the manufacturer, who reported that the fire extinguisher failed the inspection due to severe rust on the surface.

In conversation with CBC How it happensGillis said the summary was “incredibly difficult to listen to.”

“This is really hard to accept. Our family already knew that the inspection stickers on this fire extinguisher had expired,” Gillis said.

“It's really hard to grasp that this could have easily been prevented by detecting the rust or recognizing the validity of the stickers.”

The Labor Department declined an interview request on Thursday.

In a statement to CBC News, the ministry confirmed that it had forwarded the summary to the family.

“We always try to provide families with as much information as possible without jeopardizing the case,” the department said.

The school’s reaction

The family previously told CBC News they wanted the school closed, but now they say they want a change in leadership and the school should be closed in the meantime while that change is made.

The Nova Scotia Firefighters School declined an interview with CBC News earlier this week.

In a public written statement, CEO John Cunningham said the school is “actively implementing changes to our operational and safety policies to create a safer training environment for all firefighters.”

He said the organization is committed to continuous improvement.

But Gillis doesn't believe it.

She noted that Cunningham never spoke directly to her family about the incident, even after a judge gave him the opportunity to do so following the school's sentencing.

“I think it just shows that he doesn't take responsibility for how he runs his school and the lack of safety,” she said.

Gillis said her brother loved helping people. At a young age, he started working at a local community center, was a lifeguard and became a volunteer firefighter at age 18.

“[Firefighting] was his passion and I think all of those things show what an incredible human being he was, what a generous human being he was,” she said.