The Nova Scotia Firefighters School has 41 safety infractions, 22 of which are considered high risk, according to the labour department.
The province says the school has been charged under the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a third-party investigation found the violations.
The province releases the information after an online petition calling for changes to firefighter training attracted media attention and more than 1600 signatures.
The school previously agreed to make improvements after the death of Skyler Blackie, who was injured when a fire extinguisher blew up in his face in 2019. The school was ordered to pay more than $100,000 in fines and bursaries.
But when Jessica Gillis, brother of Blackie, and her family met with the province, they told them about the infractions, Gillis said.
Gillis said her family has waited through the court process and sentencing to see what might change at the school.
“This has been our family’s life for the past five years,” said Gillis.
Gillis said it’s disheartening that the school’s top priority should be safety but “it’s clearly not.”
“Our family has decided that enough is enough, that the school has not taken accountability. They have not shown any progress to change to make the facility safer.”
Then Gillis and her family created the petition to notify the public and the government and to garner support.
Petition supported by Truro fire chief
Truro Fire Chief Blois Currie hasn’t sent a firefighter to training at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in five years, since Blackie died.
He said he can’t do that in good conscience when he believes the school isn’t safe.
“At the end of the day, that facility needs to be safe, and I don’t think anybody should go there until it’s safe,” Currie told our newsroom.
It makes it difficult because that is the only place where fire fighters can be level 1 certified in the province, but Currie said a P.E.I. fire school could soon start training and certifying some fire fighters from Nova Scotia.
In a social media post, Currie called on the province to make changes to the firefighters school.
“I can’t understand how some of you still send your members there for training. It is time for us to stand together as leaders, firefighters and families and stop using the fire school,” he wrote online.
