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Heater caused fire that killed firefighters

Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 07/05) - An overworked space heater was the cause of a March 17 fire that killed two Yellowknife firefighters.

According to a report from the NWT Fire Marshal, the electric heater was being used improperly by the Home Building Centre to heat a saw shop that was attached to the main store.

"The heater was insufficient for the space it was heating...because it was working harder than it was designed to" and ignited material around it, said fire marshall Bernie Van Tighem.

Veteran firefighter Cyril Fyfe and rookie Kevin Olson were caught under falling debris. The weight of the debris crushed their chests, preventing them from breathing.

Their deaths attracted national attention, with firefighters and mourners coming from as far away as Newfoundland and Vancouver for the funeral march.

Other than the cause of the fire, no other details from the long-awaited report are being released to the public.

Copies of the report and the recommendations that go along with it have been shared with the fire department, the coroner and the Worker's Compensation Board, said Van Tighem.

The public is the last in line to view the findings and that won't happen until the WCB completes its own investigation.

"We can't make the report public so that we don't impact their investigation," said Van Tighem.

Four separate investigations were launched after the fire. The RCMP and the coroner completed their reports within months.

The last account to come is from the WCB, which has no deadline for its report, according to Dave Grundy, manager of communications. A full-time employee is devoted to the file, Grundy said.

The WCB report will focus on the workers and preventing similar deaths in the future.

Public access

While public access to more information on the fire seems to hinge on their investigation, Grundy said the decision to keep quiet about the findings comes from the fire marshal's office.

Van Tighem said he decided to release the cause of the fire in the meantime in the interest of public safety.

"It's going into winter and people are going to start using heaters. We ask that they read the manufacturer's instructions and use the heater properly," he said.

Van Tighem said he has not given the report to the Fyfe and Olson families.