Crews gain access to Fernie, B.C., arena after deadly ammonia leak

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The bodies of two municipal employees have been removed from an ice rink in southeastern B.C. that was filled with toxic ammonia as more details emerged about an incident that also killed a third man and threw the small community of Fernie into disarray.

Norm McInnis, chief administrative officer of Fernie, told reporters on Thursday that an ammonia alarm went off at the city-owned arena around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, prompting the municipality to shut down the facility and then call in a contracted refrigeration specialist from Calgary, a three-hour drive away.

Just after 7 a.m. that day, the city notified residents on social media that the rink would be closed that day for "emergency repairs to the refrigeration plant."

Some time after that, the contractor arrived from Calgary and, according to the chief financial officer of the refrigeration firm's parent company, worked at the rink for a couple of hours before the incident occurred.

Shortly before 1 p.m. emergency crews responded to a 911 call and arrived to find someone performing CPR on a person outside the arena.

Firefighters entered the facility for a brief search and discovered two bodies, but had to leave for safety reasons.

The dead included the Calgary-based contractor, the city's director of leisure services and its chief facility engineer, who had been in charge of the rink's operation for the past 25 years, according to a profile of the arena in Fernie newspaper The Free Press earlier this year.

That afternoon, the levels of the gas, which most of Canada's 2,500 indoor rinks use as a coolant in its liquid form, were so high that authorities put neighbours on four blocks under evacuation alert.

Alleine Anselmo and her husband, living two blocks from the arena, decided to stay put with their nine-month old daughter until further notice. That came at 8 p.m.

"The police and the fire crews came to our door and told us we had to leave," she told The Globe and Mail. "Basically, I grabbed a change of clothes, woke the baby up and got her all set.

"They said they couldn't say anything at the time just that we had to go because there was a leak at the arena and they weren't sure what was happening," Ms. Anselmo said.

Authorities said on Thursday the evacuation order will remain in place until at least Friday for close to 100 people, many of whom are being put up in a local hotel. Early on Thursday evening, crews were still investigating whether there was any lingering danger after authorities were only able to enter the arena and retrieve the bodies late on Wednesday night.

"The town is really sad, obviously our hearts go out to the families," said Ms. Anselmo, whose family is staying nearby at her parents' place. "We just want to go home."

Two days after what is believed to be the first fatal ammonia leak at a Canadian ice rink, Mr. McInnis said officials are still far from determining how three men died.

"We all have questions as to what happened," Mr. McInnis said at a news conference on Thursday morning. "Something went terribly wrong."

Mr. McInnis was joined by the local fire chief and an RCMP sergeant, who declined to answer questions at the news conference on Thursday. No questions were taken at media briefings on Wednesday as well.

Mounties are still investigating whether any criminal offence took place. If it is deemed an accident, the investigation will be handed off to the BC Coroners Service. WorkSafeBC, the B.C. Environment Ministry and the Interior Health Authority were also on site Wednesday.

The RCMP have not released the names of the victims yet.

The victim in charge of the Fernie arena would have had to have completed his B.C. Power Boilers Operators Certificate and obtained his refrigeration ticket, according to The Free Press profile from earlier this year.

The city's director of leisure services was remembered by colleagues as a dedicated and caring boss in a Facebook post from the Alberta Association of Recreation Facility Personnel.

Twyla Sevinski, a lifelong Fernie resident, said people in the community have been shaken by the tragedy. She recalled coming across a chaotic scene on Tuesday afternoon as a flurry of fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the arena.

"There was a lot of fear around town," she said on Wednesday. "It's a lot to take in all at one time. I just hope that everybody can get through this." Ms. Sevinski said her eight-year-old daughter loves to skate at the arena and her 14-year-old son has spent many hours on the ice playing hockey.

"What if other people were in there when this happened? It could have impacted a lot more people, children. It's scary," she said.

With a report from The Canadian Press