TORONTO -- A jury at a coroner's inquest says the deaths of two Ontario men during firefighter training exercises were accidents.
Adam Brunt, a firefighting student, and Gary Kendall, a veteran volunteer firefighter, died five years apart during ice rescue courses involving the same training company.
Their deaths brought scrutiny to the industry surrounding private training courses for firefighters, which is currently unregulated.
The inquest, which began just over two weeks ago, heard that firefighters looking to learn about ice rescue practices may have no other choice than to turn to private instruction, since the Ontario Fire College suspended its own program three years ago.
Jurors heard the college, a provincial body that offers training to members of municipal fire departments, has yet to replace the program with an updated version.
Kendall died in January 2010 after getting trapped under a fast-moving ice floe in waters near Sarnia, Ont. Brunt drowned in February 2015 while trying to float through a narrow gap in the ice on the Saugeen River near Hanover, Ont.
