Death of two firefighters: Saint-Urbain fined by the CNESST

The Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) issued a statement of offense to the Municipality of Saint-Urbain for the role it played in the deaths of two its volunteer firefighters during the floods of May 1, 2023.

There CNESST had one year to take action. She will finally have almost exhausted the deadline. She fined the Municipality on April 26 for the events that occurred a year ago.

The organization considers that Saint-Urbain contravened the law or acted in a way that compromised the health and safety of workers. It is a judge of the Court of Quebec who will be called upon to decide in the event of a challenge to the fine or the offenseindicates the CNESST.

A municipality faces a fine of up to $77,000 for a first offense. This can go up to $300,000 in the event of a repeat offense.

The Municipality has 30 days to enter a plea of ​​guilty or not guilty.

Breaches

Remember that the organization concluded at the end of March that Régis Lavoie and Christopher Lavoie had neither the training, nor the skills, nor the equipment necessary to carry out water rescues, which put them in danger of drowning.

On May 1, 2023, Régis and Christopher Lavoie launched an Argo-type vehicle, a boat poorly suited to carrying out a rescue operation near the Gouffre River. The management of the intervention, both at the level of the Municipality and the fire department, contained shortcomings which led to the vehicle being launched into the water.concluded the CNESST.

The report also specifies that the Municipality had no specific plan to dictate interventions in the event of flooding, even though the region experiences them every year.

Combat Clothes

The coroner’s public inquiry into the deaths of the two firefighters continued on Tuesday for a fifth day of hearing with the testimony of the authors of the report of the CNESST.

They insisted on a less publicized part of their report, which concerns firefighters’ combat clothing.

Even if the CNESST concludes that this is not the cause of death, Caroline Pelchat and François Lachance agree that Régis and Christopher Lavoie considerably reduced their chances of survival when they decided to go into the water without a flotation vest and in firefighter’s clothing on the fateful day. Two jackets were however accessible in their boat.

There CNESST conducted tests in swimming pools with professional firefighters. Their results are unequivocal.

A firefighter wearing a firefighting suit sinks regardless of position in the watermentioned Caroline Pelchat, inspector for the CNESST. The tests also concluded that it is impossible to climb out of the water with such clothing without the help of a colleague, so that the moment he falls into the water, the firefighter becomes a casualty. rescue rather than a rescuer.

Let us remember that the CNESST did not accept this cause in the deaths of the two volunteer firefighters. Rather, it points to the lack of training and appropriate equipment, as well as the absence of prevention measures put in place in the event of flooding.

Little chance of survival, even with a flotation vest

Tests also showed that it is difficult, but not impossible, to float in combat gear if you are wearing a flotation vest.

However, on May 1, due to the flow of water in the river, wearing such a jacket would not have saved the firefighters. At 308 cubic meters per second of flow, we can ask ourselves whether the flotation vest would have been relevant in this case. said Ms. Pelchat.

There was no need to go there.

An ill-adapted vehicle in a raging river

An Argo amphibious vehicle specialist came to answer several questions, knowing that Régis Lavoie had borrowed his sister’s vehicle, which was equipped with caterpillars. An outboard motor was also used by the volunteer firefighters.

For Patrick Gauthier, vice-president of the Les Tout-Terrains Argo PG store, everything was in place for an incident to happen. If you use an Argo in water, you really shouldn’t go where there is current, dropped the specialist. Any added equipment, including tracks, makes it even more difficult to navigate the aircraft. The tracks completely negate driving in the water. Debris can capsize the vehicle if pushed by a certain flowexplained the expert.

Philippe Bourdon, geographer-consultant for the City of Baie-Saint-Paul, also demonstrated to the coroner the historic nature of the floods of 2023. At certain times, the flow of the Gouffre River reached 500 cubic meters per minute. Normally, a spring flood is around 70. According to him, this type of flood happens about once a century.