Report of Alberta firefighters killed in vehicle rollover

FirefighterCloseCalls is reporting that:

Firefighters Nathan Jackson and Francis Cardinal were killed in the Line of Duty when their vehicle rolled over returning from a fire near Conklin, Alberta, CN

We were able to find some articles about a July 21 rollover that fit that description, but were unable to verify that it was a line of duty accident. Here are obituaries for Mr. Jackson and Mr. Cardinal who both passed away on July 21.

Our condolences to the families and co-workers.

UPDATE on August 12, 2010:

We received more details about this accident from the Canadian government through the International Association of Wildland Fire:

Firefighter’s Name: Francis Cardinal

Rank or Position: Type II Firefighter.

Age: DOB 1982-07-11 (28)

Gender: Male

Status: Contract Type II firefighter

Years of Service: experience 16 seasons

Date of Incident: July 21, 2010

Time of Incident: Approximately 20:30 hours

Date of Death: July 21, 2010

Firefighter’s Name: Nathan Jackson

Rank or Position: Type I Firefighter.

Age: DOB 1987-04-13 (23)

Gender: Male

Status: Seasonal Contract Type I firefighter

Years of Service: experience 1 1/2 seasons

Date of Incident: July 21, 2010

Time of Incident: Approximately 20:30 hours

Date of Death: July 21, 2010

Name of the Firefighters Fire Department: BLMS Wildland fire fighters Ltd.; Caslan , Alberta

Incident Description: The BLMS Wildland Fire Fighters Ltd. was on contract to the Department of Sustainable Resource Development and based out of Liesmer Fire Base in the Lac La Biche Area to work on wildfires.

On July 21st. the Crew had driven out from Liesmer Fire Base in two crew vehicles, along with another crew in separate vehicles that afternoon to take suppressive action on a wildfire. Later that day, the crews were returning to Liesmer Fire Base travelling West bound on a secondary gravel road. At approximately 3 kilometers west of Conklin Corners, they approched a west bound vehicle travelling in the west bound lane. The first vehicle being operated by BLMS Wildland fire fighters Ltd. entered the east bound lane of the secondary road and increased his speed and sucessfully passed the west bound vehicle.

The second vehicle operated by BLMS Wildland fire fighters Ltd. Attempted to follow the first and entered the east bound lane of the secondary road, and increased speed, and sucsesfully passed the west bound vehicle. It then attempted to re-enter the west bound lane at which time the driver lost control of the vehicle, it started to fish-tail, and then vehicle rolled, several times. The three occupants in the vehicle were ejected from the vehicle. The vehicle came to rest in the middle section of the road on it’s wheels, with the front of the vehicle facing in a northerly direction.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.