WAVERLEY: The N.S. Fire School in Waverley will have to answer to two charges stemming from the training accident that led to the death of a well-liked and former Fall River volunteer firefighter.
According to CBC N.S., the fire school will be in court in early January to face the charges under Nova Scotia’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Skyler Blackie, who had become a career firefighter in Truro after a tenure as a volunteer with Station 45, succumbed to the injuries he suffered 11 days earlier. He had sustained the critical injuries on March 9 during a training evolution at the N.S. Fire School in Waverley. He was rushed to hospital by EHS.
Blackie had signed up to be an organ donor, so as his obituary said “his legacy and strength will live on in others.”
In interviews that followed with those who knew him, Blackie was remembered fondly.
“I could see the spark. He was a very smart and talented young man,” recalled Dave Lovett in the March 25, 2019 story on The Laker website.
One charge against the fire school is that it failed to take every reasonable precaution that employees were familiar with each potential health and safety problem in the workplace; and that they failed to ensure equipment was recertified according to manufacturers’ specifications.
A lawyer for the fire school appeared in provincial court in Dartmouth.
The matter will return to court Jan. 11 for election and plea.
