PBHE's deepest condolences to the families and friends of Wayne Hornquist, Lloyd Smith and Jason Podloski. These three men passed away due to the devastating ammonia leak at Fernie Memorial Arena on October 17, 2017. With many of Canada's ammonia chillers reaching the end of their lifecycle it is important for those responsible to financially plan to replace them in a timely manner. Precautions need to be put in place so that such an event never happens again.

Please make yourself aware of the dangers of ammonia and encourage your local rink and municipality to make repairing and replacing old ammonia chillers a priority. PBHE felt compelled to respond to the initial reports put out by Technical Safety BC regarding the incident (see below for PBHE's full response). Since then, the City of Fernie was cited with seven violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations and one under the Workers Compensation Act. Toromont Industries Ltd., which owns the refrigeration company CIMCO, was cited with two violations under the Workers Compensation Act. PBHE will continue to raise awareness on this topic for the safety of all involved.

PBHE's Response to the Fernie Memorial Arena Ammonia Leak - October 17, 2017

Fatal Fernie Ammonia Leak (Report 2)