By Tamara King
The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — It was more than eight months ago that two Winnipeg fire captains were killed in a raging inferno sparked by a smouldering cigarette, but city officials say it’s still too fresh for the firefighter’s loved ones to publicly release the entire report into the deadly incident.
Captains Harold Lessard and Tom Nichols were killed and four other firefighters were injured last February after getting in caught in a “black fire,” described by fire officials as a turbulent, high-velocity, intense fire with temperatures estimated at more than 600 C.
Twenty-two recommendations from the report compiled by Office of the Fire Commissioner were released Thursday by the head of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, who said he plans to keep the rest of the report private out of respect for the victims’ families and fellow firefighters.
“There is information in there that is painful to read,” Brennan said.
At the time, fire officials called the blaze a “flashover,” when gasses suddenly superheat, turning the area into a massive fireball. On Thursday, the department said that technically the blaze would properly be described as a black fire.
Firefighter’s union president Alex Forrest said many firefighters are still struggling with their colleagues’ deaths and injuries.
“I talked to the incident commander, and trust me, he goes over it in his mind every day,” Forrest said.
Both Lessard, 55, and Nichols, 57, had more than 30 years experience as firefighters. Edward Wiebe, an 18-year veteran of the force, was badly burned, while Lionel Crowther received burns to about 15 per cent of his body. Darcy Funk and Scott Atchison were both treated for minor injuries and released from hospital the same night.
On Thursday, the city said in an e-mail to The Canadian Press that two of the four injured firefighters have returned to work while the other two remain off duty.
The bulk of the report’s recommendations deal with training, guidelines and new equipment for the fire department. Brennan said the No. 1 recommendation involves home building codes that would make it a requirement to install fireguard drywall for the adjoining wall between an attached garage and a home instead of plywood.
“It’s relatively easy to install a drywall separation,” said Brennan, adding it’s relatively inexpensive, too.
Investigators believe the fire started when an 18-year-old resident of the two-storey home and a friend were smoking in the attached garage late on the frigid afternoon of Feb. 4.
They put the cigarette out in an ashtray, then dumped the ashtray in a plastic garbage can and returned to the house.
The wall between the garage and the home was made of plywood. Built in 1991, the two-storey, wood-framed home complied with the building codes of the time.
Plywood can burn in seven to 10 minutes, while the suggested fireguard drywall would take about 40 minutes to burn, said deputy fire Chief Ken Sim.
Forrest said he believes one of the lasting legacies of the fire is that homeowners will think about installing building materials with higher fire rating.
"(It’s) going to really educated the people out there, especially in a relatively short time, be concerned of what your houses are composed of,” Forrest said.
The report also suggests changing fire codes to require that garages contain smoke or fire detection systems that would sound inside the house.
But even with all the recommendations about training and building code changes, Forrest said fires are hard to predict.
“You just can’t look at a house and say, ‘I know how it’s going to travel, I know how it’s going to expand’,” he said.
The house, a complete writeoff, was owned by Richard Chartier, a judge at the Manitoba Court of Appeal. He and his wife, Liza Maheu, were out of town at the time of the fire.
Son Pierre-Marc Chartier, 18, was at home with a friend when the fire started.