Safety failures prior to wildfire fighter's death: WorkSafeBC
Hazard management and supervision prior to fatal incident 'inadequate,' 'ineffective,' agency report says
A WorkSafeBC report has found several safety failures leading up to the death of a 19-year-old wildfire fighter last summer.
On July 13, 2023, a burning cedar fell on Devyn Gale, fatally injuring her, while she was fighting a wildfire near Revelstoke, B.C., about 150 kilometres east of Kamloops.
Two firefighters were also injured while trying to free Gale, according to the provincial workplace safety agency's report, which was finalized close to a year after her death.
Based on its investigation, WorkSafeBC called the hazard management and supervision prior to the incident "ineffective" and "inadequate." It said young, inexperienced firefighters were deployed to the area without sufficient training.
In addition, the agency found the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) has a culture that normalizes risks around dangerous trees even though it is aware of safety concerns related to them.
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"This approach to the policies and procedures related to dangerous trees likely contributed to this incident," said the report, which was obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request.
WorkSafeBC told CBC News that it is currently considering the report's findings to determine appropriate enforcement action.
BCWS executive director David Greer told CBC's Daybreak South that the service accepts the report. He also said he doesn't view the case as "gross negligence by certain individuals," but that the whole organization needs to learn from it and do better.
But he added there are nuances because wildfire crews do not work in a controlled environment.
"It's a dynamic, complex environment and there's a lot of pressure on people," Greer said.
"A lot of the things around danger trees are changing in real time … and the way we look at safety is changing and we have to constantly evolve with it."
Known risk
Dangerous trees were a known risk on the day that Gale died, according to WorkSafeBC.
Earlier that day, at least two firefighters on her team had expressed concerns about the trees in a group meeting, based on the report. But it found no subsequent dangerous tree assessment (DTA).
One firefighter also suggested that a no-work zone be established around a burning cedar tree, but the report said the group decided to take "a heads-up approach" instead. This meant crews would stay alert and stay away from the tree if they felt uncomfortable.
But these two decisions meant that the wildfire service's own safe work procedure was not followed, according to the report. Then, at about 1:30 p.m., Gale was working around six to nine metres from the burning cedar's base when it fell. She received first aid on the ground and was airlifted to Queen Victoria Hospital in Revelstoke, but her injuries were fatal.
At the same time, WorkSafeBC said the BCWS has "a well-known and documented history of systemic compliance challenges" for dangerous tree assessment (DTA) during fire suppression activities.
For instance, the report said its investigators reviewed 16 DTA field cards that were filed in June 2023 for another fire, but found minimal information about the management of dangerous trees. It added that a 2016 survey indicated that just 68 per cent of dangerous tree assessors followed the process as it is outlined.
"Ultimately, there was inadequate quality assurance of the DTA process and of the managerial oversight procedures in place," the report said.
Paul Finch, the president of the B.C. General Employees Union, which represents wildfire service workers in the province, agrees the case reflects systemic issues.
He said that the referenced challenges around supervision and training are part of a longstanding problem around retention. He noted that the BCWS has always had a young workforce among seasonal recruits but said there is also a concern around retaining people in the more senior positions.
"What used to be a bad season is now a regular season," he said. "But then there's a more sustained long-term career path aspect of the service."
Finch added that the union will be going into bargaining early next year, and issues like retention and compensation will be front and centre.
The BCWS's Greer has previously acknowledged issues around retention and recruiting. Last year, he pointed to several initiatives to address them, including an effort to convert seasonal workers to full-time employees.
Provincial response
Bruce Ralston, the province's minister of forests, told CBC News in a statement that his ministry is taking action on all the findings from WorkSafeBC.
The BCWS is also providing customized danger-tree awareness training for all of its staff and converting crew supervisors into year-round positions.
B.C. Premier David Eby said in an unrelated Wednesday news conference that he has been told that "a number of significant changes" have been made to increase safety after Gale's death.
"It was very apparent, given Devyn's death, that something had gone tragically wrong on the site," he said.
"There's no question that people who sign up for the wildfire service are signing up for an inherently risky and difficult job. But it should never be risky or dangerous because of a lack of training, because the concern that somebody raised about safety wasn't acknowledged in the way that it should have [been]."
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With files from Meagan Deuling, Daybreak South, Alya Ramadan, Sohrab Sandhu and Liam Britten