BC wildfires | Second report blames BC Wildfire Service for firefighter death

A workplace investigation into the death of a firefighter in a commercial vehicle crash last year in northern B.C. blames a series of failings on the BC Wildfire Service, in the second such report to be released in two days.


WorkSafeBC’s report into the July 28 death of Zak Muise, an employee of contractor Big Cat Wildfire, says the wildfire service failed to adequately supervise the use of utility vehicles, lacked procedures and training on their operation and failed to ensure the vehicles were inspected.

It says neither Mr Muise, 25, nor the forest fire supervisor who was also in the vehicle, known as a UTV, were wearing helmets, although they are provided and required by the manufacturer for safety reasons.

The report states that a netting system to keep occupants inside the UTV in the event of a rollover was damaged and ineffective, which would likely have been identified if a pre-use inspection had been conducted.

The findings, first reported by the CBC, also indicate that at least one of the occupants was not wearing a seat belt. However, the way the report was written makes it difficult to know which of the two men was being referred to.

Other report

Another WorkSafeBC report released Wednesday found ineffective risk management by the wildfire service, inadequate supervision, training and orientation of young workers, unsafe work procedures and normalization of risks. It came after an investigation into the death of 19-year-old firefighter Devyn Gale last summer.

Mme Gale was killed when a burning tree fell on her northeast of Revelstoke last July, although the cedar had been identified by colleagues as dangerous before the accident.

The report said “no steps have been taken to eliminate or mitigate the risks” posed by the tree.

The report into Muise’s death says he and his BC Wildfire Service supervisor were riding in the utility vehicle near Fort St. John when it crossed a ditch to avoid an oncoming truck.

But the driver of the utility vehicle, whose identity is withheld in the report, failed to stop before falling down a steep four-metre embankment, resulting in a crash that killed Mr Muise and left the supervisor with unspecified injuries.

“The BC [Wildfire Service] failed to provide adequate supervision of the operation of commercial vehicles and therefore failed to ensure the health and safety of workers carrying out work at the workplace,” the report said.

Mr. Muise and Mr.me Gale was among four wildland firefighters who lost their lives in Canada last July.

It was one of the deadliest fire seasons in recent memory.


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