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Nova Scotia Cuts Funding to Firefighters School After Audit Uncovers Safety Failures

An interim steering committee is set to oversee fall training safeguards pending a full fire services review to shape long-term reforms.

The Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley on Tuesday.
A regimental funeral for Truro firefighter Skyler Blackie was held March 30, 2019, at Colchester Legion Stadium. Blackie died in hospital 11 days after he suffered a critical head injury when a fire extinguisher exploded during a training exercise at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley.
Jessica Gillis answers questions from reporters at One Government Place in Halifax on Tuesday, August 5, 2025. Gillis’s brother, Skyler Blackie, was killed during a training exercise at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley in 2019.
Emergency Management Minister Kim Masland answers questions from reporters at One Government Place IN Halifax on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. The province released the results of an audit into the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley on Tuesday and have ended their relationship with the school.

Overview

  • A $300,000 money-for-value audit by consultant 21FSP exposed critical safety and governance lapses at the Waverley firefighters school.
  • The audit was commissioned after firefighter Skyler Blackie died in 2019 when a rusted extinguisher exploded during a certification exercise.
  • Minister of Emergency Management Kim Masland labelled the findings “appalling” and confirmed the province has severed its funding ties with the non-profit training facility.
  • Officials will appoint a steering committee in the coming weeks to develop and implement enhanced fall training protocols for all provincial firefighters.
  • A broader, comprehensive training model will be designed once an ongoing provincial fire services review delivers its recommendations.