The death of firefighter Pierre Lacroix, which occurred during a nautical rescue operation in the waters of the St. Lawrence River on October 17, 2021, highlighted many shortcomings in the coordination of this type of mission and in the training of teams. rescue, concludes coroner Géhane Kamel. In a report made public on Thursday, it makes a series of recommendations to prevent other tragedies.
Pierre Lacroix drowned after the boat in which he was with colleagues capsized. The crew was then trying to rescue two boaters who had ventured into the waters of the river before ending up in the Lachine Rapids sector.
“None of the command post officers had any water rescue training. The decisions of the shore command post officers are made in good faith, but unfortunately they are not optimal,” the coroner wrote in her report. “A certain disorganization has set in between the various partners and the chronology as well as the incredible number of resources have brought their share of difficulties for an effective coordination of the rescue mission. »
Also, she notes, no firefighters were equipped with personal locator beacons. The boat in which the firefighters were left alone on a rescue mission when, according to the coroner, at least two boats should have been launched simultaneously to prevent possible capsizing.
imaginary limit
In her report, the coroner dwells on the question of the exclusion zone which had been discussed extensively during the hearings. This area, closed to navigation because of the Lachine rapids, is however difficult to locate for some boats. The new lifeboats now owned by the Montreal Fire Department (SIM) are equipped with radar to detect this area, but that is not enough, says the coroner, who evokes the sense of duty of firefighters who encourages them to putting themselves at risk to save lives. “It is not enough to prohibit an area, the firefighters must be prepared for all eventualities”, she underlines.
In her report, she quotes Christopher Ross, president of the Montreal Firefighters Association, who, during his testimony at the coroner’s inquest in November 2022, had the following thought: “The he establishment of a no-go zone is like telling citizens who are on the third floor of a burning building that you can’t pick them up because you can’t go higher than the second floor,” he explained.
“This image alone convinced me that it would be utopian to believe that an imaginary limit in the St. Lawrence River would be a barrier to thwart the sense of duty of firefighters whose mission, in particular, is to save lives. human,” writes the coroner.
It is in this context that the coroner suggests that firefighter training be improved. “On the evening of October 17, 2021, none of the firefighters had swift water training and the command post did not have officers qualified in water rescue. There was one victim, there could have been six. »
The coroner also dwells on the navigation skills of boaters. The boaters in distress at the source of the nautical operation of October 17, 2021 had obtained their navigation license ten years before the event while they were in high school. The coroner believes that the requirements for obtaining a boating license are insufficient and should be tightened.
She also points out that on the evening of the tragedy, no sign indicated to boaters the presence of the Lachine rapids nearby.
The recommendations
The coroner therefore issues a series of recommendations. At the Ministère de la Sécurité publique, it recommends revising the Regulation respecting the conditions for practicing within a municipal fire safety service in order to ensure that the requirements in terms of nautical rescue are provided for therein.
It urges the cities of the Montreal agglomeration to install warning signs warning of the danger in the Lachine boat descents.
For its part, the SIM should ensure that the nautical training provided to firefighters “meets the best quality standards” and that it offers whitewater rescue training for firefighters who work in a nautical station. It should also equip all nautical firefighters with a GPS beacon and each boat with a cell phone. The coroner also recommends that the SIM equip itself with at least two personal watercraft.
According to Géhane Kamel, the Canadian Coast Guard should install Lachine Rapids warning signs on bridge structures. For its part, Transport Canada should review the legislative and regulatory framework leading to obtaining a boater’s competency card.