A northern Manitoba fire chief whose department was among those that responded to a fatal derailment in 2018 told an inquest he might have brought a gas detector if he had been told more specifics about the incident.

Snow Lake Fire Department Chief Cory Anaka said he was at his other job at a mill facility in the area when the call came in about two men trapped in the train. He said his department offered to go because the site was in its response area.

Kevin Anderson, who was 38, died after the freight train he was conducting went over a washed-out section of rail in a remote area of northern Manitoba and derailed on Sept. 15, 2018. Anderson and engineer Chris Rushton were pinned in the wreckage.

The rails and ties were in place but were hanging over an empty space 15 metres long and almost five metres deep, a Transportation Safety Board report said. The section of track collapsed under the weight of the train.

The crash happened near Ponton, Man., about 165 kilometres northeast of The Pas.

Anderson and Rushton were seriously injured, and their radios weren’t working. They were discovered by chance about two hours after the derailment when a civilian helicopter happened to fly overhead.

While RCMP got to the scene around 7 p.m., access to the site was barred until it could be assessed by trained and equipped personnel because of concerns about fuel leaking from the wreckage. Emergency personnel didn’t get to the scene until much later.

Anaka told the inquest into Anderson’s death on Tuesday that his fire department did not get a gas detector until after the derailment. However, he said he likely would have been able to get one from the mill before heading to the derailment site if anyone had said a detector was needed.

“It’s important for the first responders to get as much relevant information as soon as they can, so they can marshal the resources before departing and make sure that they’re checking all the boxes. Is that fair?” Abram Silver, a lawyer representing Anderson’s family, asked Anaka.

“And from your experience, that communication aspect — is that something that could be improved? Is that lacking? Would you benefit from a more robust communication process?”

“Yes,” Anaka said. “Absolutely. For sure.”

Anaka told the inquest he was picked up by others in his fire department to head to the site that day. He wasn’t at the department when the page came in from 911 and didn’t know the train was hauling propane tanks until he got to the scene.

“Whether or not 911 knew if they needed gas detection or extrication or what, I think that’s the only information that was given to me, was that we had two men trapped in the train. And I said, ‘OK, well, let’s go.'”

Anaka said he didn’t know at the time that Snow Lake emergency medical services had also been dispatched to the scene. He said his department ended up essentially “on standby” once the members arrived, except for one who had mine rescue experience and went to help remove the men.

While Rushton survived the derailment, an autopsy report said Anderson bled to death after suffering “serious but survivable injuries.” However, the medical opinion on whether he could have survived was later changed to his death being inevitable given the circumstances.

Helicopter pad ‘doable,’ inquest hears

Jed Hansen, president and CEO of Custom Helicopters, told the inquest his company was called to help with the rescue operation after the derailment because it was approved to fly at night, which not all helicopters are.

The helicopter ended up landing in a baseball field not far from Thompson’s hospital, which Hansen said is not common but is allowed for the purpose of saving a life.

When asked about potentially adding a landing pad in the area, Hansen said he thought it would be “doable in a couple different locations.” 

Custom Helicopters is an on-demand service and not on contract with the Manitoba government. Hansen told Shared Health lawyer Rob Olson he had “no objection” to having conversations about entering a contract with that agency, depending on the terms.

“That’s welcome news, obviously, to Shared Health, and I’m sure to Manitobans generally,” Olson said. 

The inquest also heard Tuesday from Neil Atkins of Emergency Response Assistance Canada about its involvement in the derailment, which included removing the propane from the train cars involved in the incident. 

The inquest before provincial court Judge Timothy Killeen in The Pas, Man., is scheduled to continue Wednesday. It was originally scheduled to start in December 2021 but was postponed several times because of disputes regarding the scope and disclosure of RCMP evidence.

Its purpose includes determining the circumstances surrounding the death and reviewing the co-ordination of a multi-agency response to a serious incident in a remote setting.