After 2 Quebec firefighters die, attention turns to water rescue training

In Salaberry-de-Valleyfield on Thursday, Kevin Robindaine, an operations chief with the Boisbriand fire department, hurled himself into the Saint-Charles Rapids, grasped at a yellow rope thrown to him by his colleagues and clung to it as they pulled him to shore. 

The Boisbriand firefighters are part of a special team trained to conduct rescues in flooded areas where, they know all too well, swift-moving water can be deadly.

"The water is the biggest danger," said Robidaine. "There's hypothermia, the current. The rescuers need to be well-equipped.… They need to be well trained." 

Since 2021, three firefighters have died in Quebec while involved in water rescues or operating in flood zones. Two of them, Régis Lavoie, 55, and Christopher Lavoie, 23, part-time firefighters in Saint-Urbain, Que., died this week when they were swept away by rushing floodwaters. 

Part-time firefighters in Quebec must complete a 255-hour course called Certificat Pompier I, which covers basic firefighting skills and knowledge. The course has no water rescue component. The Saint-Urbain fire department did not respond to a CBC request asking what water rescue training, if any, the two men had. 

Régis Lavoie's family has raised questions about whether he was prepared for the dangerous flooding environment he found himself in when he died. The two men (who were not related) were wearing heavy firefighting gear and were driving Regis's personal vehicle, an amphibious ATV, when they were swept away. 

Raynald Hawkins, the executive director of the Quebec branch of the Canadian Lifesaving Society, said firefighters in municipalities that are at risk of flooding should be given additional training and equipment so they are prepared in case they need to take part in a water rescue. 

"For sure, when we have a responsibility, we need some specific equipment and we need the training program," he said. "Doesn't matter if it's a volunteer or a full-time firefighter. We need to train them."

Some fire departments, like Boisbriand's, have teams that specialize in water rescue. On Thursday, members of that team practised rescuing one another from the waves: a worst-case scenario. 

They also practiced rigging ropes and using a rapid deployment craft — an inflatable canoe of sorts — to safely extract people from flooded areas. 

Westley Grenon, the director of operations at SIFA, the company that conducted the training for the Boisbriand team, said the skills they were learning are essential for operating in such a dangerous environment. 

"The firefighters here and others in the same role will be called upon to intervene in areas with very high risk," Grenon said, motioning to the team who were taking turns pulling each other from the frigid water. 

"Educating them about the risks and dangers of that specific environment is critical to the success of their operations but also to their safety."

But, he said, there's a wide gap in the water-rescue capabilities of fire departments across the country. 

Some departments, particularly in bigger cities, have the resources to train and buy equipment.

Others, particularly those in small towns with part-time or volunteer fire departments, don't have such a luxury.

The full-body kit worn by the Boisbriand firefighters can cost as much as $2,500. Training is expensive, too, and so is extra equipment.

But Grenon said he hopes all firefighters in Quebec undergo some kind of water-safety awareness training, even if it is not to the level of the training that SIFA was conducting on Friday, which was an advanced course.

Premier François Legault, who was in Baie-Saint-Paul on Wednesday to see flood damage, said the province may have to revise the firefighting requirements around water safety for part-time firefighters.

But he also said he was waiting for the results of an investigation into the deaths of Christopher and Régis, which is being conducted by the provincial police, the Sûreté du Québec and the province's workplace safety board, the CNESST.

Robindaine, the Boisbriand firefighter, said fire departments in Quebec operate too often in silos. They don't communicate with one another enough or co-ordinate ways to share expertise and resources. It's something he hopes changes.

The Boisbriand fire department's territory includes parts of the Rivière des Mille Îles as well as several islands north of Montreal. It has agreements with nearly 50 municipalities, he said, to be called in to provide expertise in case of flooding or the need for a water rescue. 

The agreements ensure that firefighters with training and equipment can step in when local firefighters may be willing to conduct dangerous water rescues — but lack the training and equipment to do so safely.

But, as he and his colleagues trained to be ready to operate in an environment much like the one that took the lives of Regis Lavoie and Christopher Lavoie earlier this week, the deaths weighed heavily on their minds. 

"Our hearts are with the Saint-Urbain fire department and the people of Charlevoix," Robindane said.