Police dispatcher lays out issues with province's communications system during inquest

A police dispatcher with Greater Sudbury police and fire described the 911 call centre the night of a fatal boat crash in 2013 as "insanity."

Sophie Smagac made the comment at a coroner's inquest currently underway in Sudbury. The joint inquest is looking into the circumstances surrounding two fatal events — a 2013 boating tragedy in Sudbury and a 2014 death in Casselman.

In June 2013, a boat crashed into an island on Lake Wanapitei in Greater Sudbury. Matthew Humeniuk, 33, and Michael Kritz, 34, both died. Stephanie Bertrand, 25, died a week later of her injuries.

The only survivor, Rob Dorzek, testified at the inquest on Monday and Tuesday. He expressed his frustration with the 911 system. He had to call five times, as his calls kept getting dropped. Emergency crews arrived more than an hour after his first call.

Dorzek says he was also told by an emergency call taker to light a signal fire so crews could find them. That fire ended up spreading to the boat where Humeniuk and Kritz lay unconscious.

On Wednesday, police dispatcher Sophie Smagac testified at the inquest. She answered Dorzek's last call to 911.

She described the call centre for fire and police as "insanity" that night, and pointed out she might have been able to better focus on the call if she wasn't also dispatching at the same time.

Fire dispatcher with Greater Sudbury police and fire, Jennilee Fraser also testified at the inquest. That night she was dispatching fire crews, while her police dispatch colleague spoke to Dorzek.

Fraser testified that volunteer firefighters had responded to the call and were at the marina in Skead, but that crew was told to wait for paramedics before sending the marine rescue fire boat.

Fire response

The final witness of the day at the inquest was John Salvalaggio, a fire captain with the volunteer firefighters in Skead.

He told the inquest that he and three other volunteer firefighters were in the rescue boat at Tony's Marina waiting for about 15 minutes until paramedics arrived.

The inquest heard that at 1:15 am, the platoon chief told the crew to go, so Salvalaggio says he started off in the boat but then noticed two ambulances arrive near the marina.

If I had of known there was a fire I would not have waited for the paramedics,- Skead volunteer fire captain John Salvalaggio

Salvalaggio says they were loading the paramedics and their equipment onto the fire boat when one of the paramedics told him that the fire at the crash site had grown. It was the first he'd heard of a fire.

"If I had of known there was a fire I would not have waited for the paramedics," he said.

Salvalaggio​ says when they got to the scene of the boat crash about 50 to 60 percent of the boat had been consumed by flames.

The inquest was told that paramedics pulled Bertrand and Dorzek on to the rescue boat, while the firefighters used the few extinguishers they had with them on the fire.

Salvalaggio testified that in 2013 the marine unit wasn't equipped with a pumper. It is now.

First rescue attempt aborted

He told the inquest jury that he assessed the scene and realized they were all in danger if the gas tank on the boat exploded. He says he was the one who made the call to abort the rescue.

They pulled the fire boat out and left the scene, leaving Kritz and Humeniuk behind.

Salvalaggio told the inquest that they dropped the two injured individuals and paramedics off back at the marina and headed back to the fire scene with more equipment.

When asked at the inquest if he would change his mind on the decision to abort, Salvalaggio said no. He said if the gas tank had gone off while they were there, they would all have been badly burned.

It was also learned during the inquest that one of the victims, Matthew Humeniuk, was the son of the other fire captain in Skead, Bob Humeniuk. The elder Humeniuk had responded to the fire call, but had stayed back in Skead with the fire truck and remaining crew there.

The Counsel to the Coroner, Prabhu Rajan, says the inquest is not about assigning blame, but rather addressing communication concerns and preventing similar tragedies.