Report into Fernie Memorial Arena worker deaths to be released this morning

Details are expected to be made public today around the circumstances that led to the death of three workers who were trying to fix the ice-making equipment at the Fernie Memorial Arena last year.

At 10 a.m. PT, Technical Safety B.C., the independent provincial body that regulates installation and operation of arena refrigeration plants, will release key findings in its investigation into the deaths. 

In the early morning of Oct. 17, 2017, an ammonia alarm sounded at the arena.

Later that same day, Lloyd Smith, Fernie’s director of leisure services, Wayne Hornquist, Fernie’s chief facility operator and Jason Podloski, a refrigeration technician with contractor CIMCO Refrigeration in Calgary, died