Quebec firefighters who died in 2023 flood lacked training, equipment: safety board

MONTREAL — Quebec’s workplace safety board says a lack of training and equipment contributed to the deaths of two firefighters during a flood northeast of Quebec City last May.

The volunteer firefighters were using an amphibious vehicle equipped with tracks and an outboard motor in an attempt to reach residents of a house that was surrounded by floodwaters in the small community of St-Urbain, Que.

The board says the current of the swollen Gouffre River swept the vehicle off course and into a tree, throwing the men into the river.

In its report, the board says that it was inappropriate to use the vehicle in a flooded field.