B.C.'s workplace regulator has issued a significant fine against the province for two wildfire-related incidents in 2023, including one where a 25-year-old firefighter tragically lost his life in a vehicle rollover in the northeast.
This is the second-largest penalty WorkSafeBC has imposed on the B.C. government for the 2023 wildfire season, following a $710,000 fine last year for unsafe wildfire mitigation practices.
The 2023 wildfire season was the most devastating in the province’s history, with nearly 2,300 fires burning over 2.8 million hectares (28,401 square kilometres) and claiming the lives of several first responders.
The province described the season as "emotionally challenging" on its website, noting the tragic loss of six members of B.C.’s wildland firefighting community in 2023.
WorkSafeBC has now penalized the province for safety deficiencies it says contributed to one of these fatalities.
"The statutory maximum penalty reflects the seriousness of the violations," the agency stated in an email, emphasizing that the fine aims to encourage compliance with workplace safety laws and regulations to ensure safer work environments.
Zak Muise, a firefighter with Bigcat Wildfir, died on July 28, 2023, when his heavy-duty all-terrain vehicle went over a steep drop on a gravel road about 150 kilometres north of Fort St. John.
Muise had been assisting in battling the massive Donnie Creek wildfire, the largest in the province’s recorded history. WorkSafeBC noted that neither Muise nor his supervisor was wearing a helmet at the time.
The penalty summary for the $759,368.84 fine, issued on Sept. 25, also highlighted that the passenger seatbelt was not used, and the passenger-side retention netting was damaged.
The second incident that led to WorkSafeBC's fine relates to five Brazilian firefighters who were trapped by flames during a planned burn in the province’s Shuswap’s region in August 2023.
WorkSafeBC determined that a lack of planning, training, and communication were contributing factors, and some of the employer's safety program and operations manual had not been followed.
“The employer failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training, and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety, a repeated and high-risk violation,” says the penalty summary.
The Forests Ministry says it has "questions and concerns" about some of WorkSafeBC's findings and plans to request a review of the penalty decision to ensure an accurate representation of events, according to an emailed statement Friday afternoon.
-with files from the CBC