More than five years after a firefighter tragically died because of an accident at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School, the province is cutting ties with the institution.
The government made the decision following an audit, which they released on Tuesday, that outlined major shortcomings in the leadership at the school, as well as safety and accountability.
“The results are clear, and they are appalling. We are ending our relationship with the school and will set up an interim training plan for firefighters right away,” said Kim Masland, Minister of Emergency Management, in a news release.
“Our firefighters respond when other people’s lives are on the line. They need and deserve, at minimum, a safe place to train. We’re going to ensure they have one.”
Many fire departments were relying on the school to get certain training exercises, and in the next few weeks the province will create what they call a “steering committee” for firefighter training to oversee an interim training plan and to guide the creation of a long-term training model.
The interim training should be in place by the fall. On top of that, the Fire Service Association of Nova Scotia is conducting an overall review of firefighting in the province.
Several organizations have called for the province to take over fire training. Masland said she would not comment until after the overall review of firefighting is done, but she did not rule it out as an option.
School issued stop work order in August, 2024
Skyler Blackie died in 2019 after a faulty fire extinguished blew up in his face. His family revealed a report from the province that showed he found rust on the extinguisher, but an instructor told him to use it anyway.
The school was issued a stop work order in August of 2024 after failing an inspection, and the order was lifted in mid-September that year, according to the province.
Several firefighters unions renewed their calls for change to the fire school around the time of the stop work order, and they also called for the executive director of the school, John Cunningham, to step down.
No formal internal review happened after Skyler Blackie’s death, and the school denied the family access to basic documents, like by-laws, according to the Tuesday audit.
Blaine Blackie, Skyler’s father, previously told our newsroom that Cunningham had never reached out or attempted to talk to him or his wife.
This was also a sticking point for Masland.
She said she had to put the audit report down several times while she was reading it. If what happened to Skyler Blackie happened to one of her brothers or her children, a preventable accident, and the school did not acknowledge her—she could not imagine it, she said.
“I had to put the report down,” she said.
“It literally punched me in the gut.”
Union applauds the move
Halifax Professional Fire Fighters are applauding the move and calling the decision a “necessary and long-overdue step toward protecting those who protect others.”
“This marks a crisis of confidence in an institution that has long been responsible for training fire fighters across our province.”
