N.S. firefighter's family pushes for school to close following death
Skyler Blackie's bunker gear, including his pants and boots, sit on the floor of his parents' basement in tribute along with dozens of smiling photos of the young fallen firefighter.
The 28-year-old died fol‐ lowing a routine training pro‐ cedure at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waver‐ ley, N.S., in March 2019. The expired extinguisher he was using exploded.
"Unfortunately the fire ex‐ tinguisher he chose was well out of date. It hadn't been in‐ spected since 2004, so we don't know why the fire school would have ever had such a thing there," said Blaine Blackie, Skyler's fa‐ ther.
A court case resulted in the school admitting in 2022 that it failed to perform rou‐ tine inspections and keep ad‐ equate records.
But now, the Blackie family has learned the train‐ ing facility has received 41 new safety recommenda‐ tions as a result of a thirdparty review ordered by the court.
The provincial Depart‐ ment of Labour, Skills and Immigration said 22 "highrisk activities" were noted by occupational health and safety officers, and the "Safety Branch continues to work with firefighters' school to achieve compliance."
Blackie's sister Jessica Gillis calls it "unacceptable."
"We can't be quiet any‐ more. We can't hope and wait because hoping and waiting could just lead to an‐ other death," said Gillis.
Another member of the Blackie family was there the day of the tragedy - Skyler's younger brother Errison. They were both employed at Truro Fire Service and had been at the school together to complete an exam as part of their certification up‐ grades.
Chief Blois Currie said he has not sent a single firefight‐ er back to the school since that day.
"I don't want to have to go to a funeral because another firefighter was killed at the training facility," said Currie.
"If it was any other organi‐ zation, they'd probably be shut down until they assured that it was safe. For some reason, they continue to bring people in knowing it's unsafe."
Currie said fire depart‐ ments across the province are continuing to send mem‐ bers to the school, but he hopes they will now take a pause after learning the latest developments.
The Nova Scotia Firefight‐ ers School declined an inter‐ view with CBC News. In a public written statement, ex‐ ecutive director John Cun‐ ningham 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 im‐ provements.
The Blackie family ac‐ knowledges the school did fulfil other court-ordered obligations such as three safety presentations, but they said the steps were of‐ ten delayed and involved minimal effort.
"And they were prompted to do so," said Cheryl Ann Blackie, Skyler's mother.
"If it's an establishment that has the right to continue operating, on that day that Skyler lost his life they should have cleaned house. They shouldn't have had to be prompted to do these things."
In his 2022 decision, Judge William Digby fined the school $102,000 and ordered that $80,000 be paid in one of two ways: directly to Public Education Trust fund set up by the minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration or paid as a scholarship pro‐ gram for volunteer firefight‐ ers training at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School.
Initially, the school se‐ lected the scholarship pro‐ gram.
"We were all heartbroken because we thought why would we want precious lives to continue to go to that school with a scholarship in our son's name? It didn't make sense to us," said Cheryl Ann Blackie.
She said in the end, the school donated $14,000 to bursaries and gave the rest to government
The Atlantic Provinces Professional Fire Fighters posted on social media that it stands in full support of the Blackie family and their calls to shut down the training fa‐ cility.
"Despite the school's guilty plea, we've seen an un‐ acceptable lack of account‐ ability and urgency in ad‐ dressing the very safety is‐ sues that led to this pre‐ ventable tragedy," said the statement.
"As firefighters, we put our lives on the line every day, and we demand a train‐ ing environment that priori‐ tizes our safety and prepares us for the challenges we face on the job."
Joe Triff, a member of the association and vice-presi‐ dent of the Halifax Profes‐ sional Fire Fighters Associa‐ tion, said there are few train‐ ing options for firefighters in Nova Scotia.
"If Skyler Blackie's tragic death wasn't a wake-up call for the people that run that facility, I don't know that they'll ever change," Triff told CBC Radio's Information Morning on Tuesday.
"Maybe it's time for a change of leadership. Maybe it's time for the province to step in and take over. But we need a safe place for fire‐ fighters in this province to train."
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