Yellowknife (Oct 09/06) - Charges laid against the city and deputy fire chief Darcy Hernblad have been stayed after an agreement was reached with the Workers Compensation Board.

The charges: Failing to take all necessary and reasonable safety precautions Failing to provide adequate safety training The agreement: The city will put $300,000 into a fire department safety fund within the next three months. That money is to be spent over the next 10 years. This is over and above the regular training fund; Starting Dec. 1, the city will report to the WCB every six months on how that safety fund is being used; Hernblad has agreed to undergo a competency test before an expert panel. City will pay for any training Hernblad needs. Formal evaluation of Hernblad is to take place within nine months; and, The city will offer training to all officers in positions of command.

The City of Yellowknife and Hernblad each faced two safety act charges in connection with the March 17, 2005 deaths of firefighters Cyril Fyfe and Kevin Olson.

Identical charges against former fire Chief Mick Beauchamp were stayed in July after he retired from the department. The city and Hernblad had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Fyfe and Olson died after the roof of a shed at Home Building Centre collapsed on top of them.

The so-called Alternative Measures Agreement was outlined in Territorial Court Friday.

In exchange for prosecution being halted, the city and Hernblad agreed to a number of conditions, including a new safety fund and training. The WCB has a year to bring the charges back if it believes any terms of the agreement are not being met.

"We can't undo what happened. It was a tragic thing to lose two firefighters. This is the best way to turn a negative situation into a positive situation," said WCB spokesperson Dave Grundy.

"It's very clear in the agreement what they have to do to get their safety up to standards."

The agreement comes after the fire department complied with 12 safety orders issued by the WCB last February. These included a general revamping of nearly all department safety procedures and the hiring of a safety officer.

The agreement is "the culmination of a year and a half of hard work," said Mayor Gord Van Tighem.

He said the agreement was a good way to improve fire department safety without "throwing sticks and stones at each other," he said.

Judge Bernadette Schmaltz said the agreement is "an example of the many ways the justice system can operate."

The city acknowledges in the agreement that "it is responsible for its fire division's response to the fire" but notes that this admission "shall not be construed as an admission of legal liability."