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QUEBEC, Canada — The 18-year-old firefighter who died in a fire in western Quebec Sunday afternoon was not properly trained, according to an official with the union that represents firefighters in the province.
André Manseau was killed when the roof of a fire-weakened garage fell on him in Val-des-Monts, about 30 kilometres north of Ottawa.
He had been working with the Val-des-Monts fire department for six months.
"We have a councillor there who works for us, and, from what I hear, that guy had no formation [training] at all," said Gilles Raymond, president of Syndicat des pompiers et pompières du Québec, the union that represents firefighters.
Raymond said that too often in small municipalities, volunteer and part-time firefighters don't get the training they need.
Val-des-Monts fire Chief Benoit Gagnon said Manseau had started his training, but hadn't finished it.
Police said they are trying to determine exactly how Manseau got trapped inside the fire and whether he was properly supervised. But, they said, it's too early to say if more experience or more training would have saved his life.
Officials with the Quebec fire academy say it's not unusual to see volunteer firefighters in their late teens and early 20s.
But, they said, under the law, all firefighters must go through at least 275 hours of training.
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