A former Nova Scotia fire chief who was removed from his position earlier this year following the death of a snowmobiler after they were hit by a fire truck, is now facing drunk driving charges.
In an email to our newsroom, New Brunswick RCMP say Jerrold Cotton, 51, was involved in a single vehicle collision on Highway 2 in Sackville, N.B., May 4.
He was the only one in the vehicle and was arrested for impaired driving after providing samples over the legal limit.
This comes just months after Blake Nicholson, 28, passed away in February – he had crashed his snowmobile near Poison Lake, N.S.
The fire department was called to help, but the RCMP confirmed Nicholson was struck and killed by a fire truck driven by Cotton.
Greg Herrett, the municipality’s CAO, told the council that Cotton was not truthful about hitting Nicholson and responded to a different emergency call shortly after, despite publicly stating he would step away from his duties.
He and his wife Andrea Bishop, who was deputy chief at Collingwood and District Fire Department, were removed from their positions for life.
Cotton had also pleaded to guilty to impaired driving in 2020.
He is scheduled for court October 17.
-with files from Evan Taylor
