A Montreal fire department truck is seen Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
MONTREAL – A Quebec coroner is recommending that Montreal firefighters be better trained on water rescues, after the 2021 drowning of firefighter Pierre Lacroix in the St. Lawrence River.
Coroner Géhane Kamel says neither Lacroix nor the three other firefighters who came to the aid of boaters in distress on Oct. 17, 2021, were properly trained in whitewater rescues.
Lacroix, 58, perished after he became trapped under a HammerHead rescue boat that capsized in the Lachine Rapids.
Kamel’s report rules Lacroix’s death as accidental, but she says the city’s fire department must provide its members with more practical training in rescues on water.
She adds that the lack of training could have led to more deaths that night.
Kamel is also recommending that the province set standards for fire department water rescues and that signage warning about dangers be installed in areas visible to boaters.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2023.
