Yellowknife (Oct 09/06) - Details of the final moments and frantic search for two firefighters killed when a shed roof collapsed on them in March 2005 have finally been made public.

The story comes from an agreed statement of facts entered Friday in NWT Territorial Court, where charges against the City of Yellowknife and deputy fire chief Darcy Hernblad in the deaths of Cyril Fyfe and Kevin Olson were stayed.

Fyfe was 41, a 19 year veteran firefighter. Olson was 24, and had been on the job with the City of Yellowknife Fire Division (YKFD) for two weeks.

In the agreement, the city accepts responsibility for the fire department's response to the blaze, but states it accepts no legal liability in the case.

The statement breaks down, minute by minute, what happened after the fire department was called to a fire in a saw shed at Home Building Centre on Old Airport Road on March 17, 2005. Only Fyfe, Olson and Hernblad are identified by name. What follows is a timeline of what happened, based upon the statement of facts:

7:04:20 a.m. - Yellowknife fire dispatch receives the first of three reports of a possible fire at Home Building Centre.

7:05:29 - Engine #8 is the first unit to respond, staffed with Lieut. Cyril Fyfe, firefighter Kevin Olson and Firefighter "A," who had two years experience.

7:09:56 - Deputy chief Hernblad arrives at the fire scene in "Red One," and takes command of the scene. At this time, smoke was reported coming from the shed, located in the lumber yard beside the main structure. No flames can be seen from outside the building. Less than a minute after arriving, Hernblad called a full alert to YKFD dispatch. He decides to proceed with an "offensive attack."

7:13:47 - Hernblad tells dispatch that an "interior attack" was being initiated. It's not clear exactly when Fyfe and Olson went into the building. The two firefighters are later referred to as "Attack Sector."

7:16:31 - Fyfe reports over the radio to Hernblad: "...We found a fire in the corner here; we got a fair amount of water on to knock it down. Can you tell me what the smoke conditions are outside?"

Hernblad replies: "The smoke conditions have lightened up a bit but there is still pretty heavy smoke coming from the eaves so it's changed a little bit, but not a whole lot. It looks like there is still fire burning somewhere."

Fyfe reports that he and Olson would continue to look for fire.

7:17:41 - Engine #7 arrives with a "senior firefighter" and five other firefighters on board.

Hernblad orders them to "get a big opening cut up on that roof and let's get to the bottom of this fire."

They're told to use ground ladders, rather than the aerial ladder on the truck.

7:19:09 - Tanker #2 arrives with "Lieut. B" and a paid on call firefighter, bringing water for Engine #8.

7:21:43 - Hernblad tells Fyfe that "smoke conditions from the outside are starting to look a little better."

Fyfe responds: "Just to let you know what we're running into here, there's a lot of stuff stored in here, a lot of hidden voids where we're getting hot spots coming on. So this room is gonna have to be dug out real good."

Firefighters from Engine #7 put the ladder on the wrong building and after further orders from Hernblad, put the ladder on the saw shed.

7:23:20-7:23:50 - Within a few seconds of each other, Medic Unit #4, Tanker #1 and Rescue #1 arrive on scene.

Hernblad orders the crew from Rescue #1 to help Engine #7 ventilate the saw shed.

Hernblad: "I just want to know how we're doing with the separation between those two buildings because they're so close (one foot apart), if it looks like we're getting any spread over or anything like that. But our main concern right now is to get that roof opened up."

7:25:23 - Fyfe reports that a large overhead door on the shed was open and the smoke was clearing: "We have no active burning on the inside of the structure of the frame; we can hear some crackling up in the roof area, but that('s) about it for right now."

These are the last words from Fyfe as reported in the statement of facts.

It's at this time that Hernblad tells Fyfe that a crew was going up onto the roof. The crew consists of four firefighters, backed up by a second crew of four firefighters.

About this time, Fyfe comes out of the shed and asks Lieut. B to set up a fan to clear smoke from the building. This is neither ordered by nor communicated to Hernblad.

Shortly after the fan was set up, Fyfe comes out of the shed and tells Lieut. B that there was a hole in the roof and asked that positive pressure ventilation be set up. None of this information is communicated to Hernblad.

Positive pressure ventilation is a procedure that sees portable fans set up outside a structure to flow air into the building and smoke out.

7:28:36-7:30:11 - "Firefighter E" assigned to take over the accountability board used to identify which firefighters are on scene. Not all firefighter tags are on the board and Hernblad orders all firefighters to check in.

7:31:42 - Hernblad says the fire is "under control."

7:33:07 - Hernblad attempts to contact Fyfe: "Attack sector from Command." There was no response.

7:33:17 - Lieut. B: "Command from Lieut. B, we're getting a major building collapse. THE ROOF JUST GAVE WAY! There's 10 people in, we're trying to get our firefighters out, stand by I'll give you a situation report."

Four firefighters on the roof fell inside.

At this point a firefighter states: "Lieut. B, we're okay on the inside. We've got all the crews established here. We've got Firefighter C and B, we're okay."

Hernblad: "Attack Sector from Command. Did we just have people fall through the roof?"

After a four second pause, there's a reply: "Roger command." This statement did not come from Fyfe or Olson.

Hernblad: "I want a status report right away on the status of all the people that fell through the roof."

Response: "Firefighter C is inside and states they're all okay."

7:34:33 - Lieut. B: "I would recommend that we would pull all personnel from the building, do a head count, make sure that we've got everybody and then we'll continue."

It's at this time that Hernblad goes into the main structure of Home Building Centre to "make sure there is no extension of the fire in there."

7:35:40 - Lieut. B: "We've got a complete roof collapse; I'm just trying to account for personnel."

Hernblad: "Okay, a minute ago somebody told me everybody was OK."

Lieut. B: "That was the roof sector. I haven't gotten contact with all of our attack sector (Fyfe and Olson) at this time. I'm just doing a head count and then we'll see if we've got everybody. Stand by."

7:36:55 - Lieut. B tells Hernblad that two personnel are missing and that firefighters were starting to remove debris and snow from the shed. All available personnel are ordered to take part in the search and rescue.

Lieut. B tells Hernblad that three personnel are missing, a statement that's not explained in the court document.

7:37:57 - Hernblad requests an additional medic unit.

7:38:23 - Lieut. B: "I need additional shovels at this location. The snow load on the roof was huge. The whole room is filled with snow. I need more shovels and extrication people."

According to the statement, there was 25 inches of snow on the ground and the recorded snowfall up until March 17 was 72 inches.

7:41:27 - Lieut. B: "We've got communication with one; we're just trying to gain access to him."

It later turned out the sound was a charged fire hose. There was no communication from the missing firefighters from the time the roof collapsed.

7:47:08 - Hernblad is told there is "no voice contact at this time."

7:48:33 - Shovels are on route.

7:48:54 - Hernblad is told four paid on call firefighters are available to respond, to which he replies that no further manpower was required on scene.

7:59:09 - One of the missing firefighters is pulled from the rubble.

7:59:35 - Hernblad orders Old Airport Road blocked so the ambulance can get out quickly. At this point both of the missing firefighters have been located.

8:01:29 - Medic #4 transports the first firefighter to Stanton Territorial Hospital. At 8:01:45, Medic #2 transports the second firefighter, arriving at Stanton at 8:03:32.

8:03:32-9:14:25 - Fire chief notified of situation, WCB Occupational Health and Safety Officers, RCMP and Fire Marshal's Office personnel are on scene.

According to an autopsy, both Fyfe and Olson died of compressional asphyxia. The weight of debris prevented either man from breathing.

The statement of facts also says that the fire was caused by "improper use and installation of a portable electric space heater."

As well, "the saw shed was constructed in the absence of a building permit and the (roof) trusses were not installed in compliance with the manufacturer's engineered design limits."