By Melinda Dalton
The Waterloo Region Record
LISTOWEL, Canada — There was little indication the smouldering roof of the Main Street dollar store in Listowel was near collapse when Ken Rea and Ray Walter went in to look for anyone still inside.
The two North Perth firefighters who lost their lives when a roof collapsed on them in March went into the ill-fated building because they couldn’t see significant smoke or flames inside, according to information released Wednesday by the Ontario Fire Marshal.
Rea and Walter were among those who responded to reports of smoke at the Dollar Shop on March 17.
The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office confirmed witness accounts that contractors were repairing the roof before the fire started and the work led to the ignition of the interior combustible components of the roof structure.
Rea and Walter entered the building to check if anyone was inside and to do an initial sweep because the responding crews didn’t see significant signs of danger, according to a release from the marshal’s office.
While they were in the store, the lightweight wood trusses of the roof collapsed, killing both men.
North Perth Fire Chief Edward Smith said he couldn’t comment on the circumstances surrounding the fire or the information released by the marshal’s office because the investigation is still ongoing.
He said the loss is still fresh for those who knew and worked with Rea and Walter and the community is still grieving.
“Everybody is still trying to cope with it,” he said. “Nobody will ever get over it. It’s a difficult thing to go through in the fire service as well as the two families who lost their loved ones.”
He said the fire service did its own internal review afterward and identified some areas to review in training.
“That’s normal operations,” he said. “When you do have something occur, you review your operations, and the training committee makes recommendations on what training they think we’re required to update.”
Smith said the support from the community has been “overwhelming” and that support has continued nearly a month after the fire.
The Ministry of Labour was also called in to investigate because the fatalities constituted a workplace accident. Spokesperson Matt Blajer said that their investigation is now complete and they’re in the process of reviewing the findings.
Fire Marshal investigators are still looking into the circumstances surrounding the blaze in an effort to safeguard against similar tragedies in the future.
“The OFM will continue to conduct further research and analysis of the sequence of events surrounding this fire, to learn from this tragedy,” Ontario Fire Marshal Ted Wieclawek said in a release.
“We will, in the future, provide the fire service with additional information and increased knowledge to safely respond to similar fires.”
A spokesperson for the fire marshal’s office said the completed report on the investigation could take some time.
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