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Rescue groups say they acted reasonably

RCMP, Golden SAR and Kicking Horse file Statements of Defence in Blackburn lawsuit

Those involved with the search and rescue efforts for two out of bounds skiers at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort last winter, one of whom froze to death before being found, deny any wrongdoing in court documents filed recently in Vancouver.

Last February Gilles Blackburn, 51, and wife Marie Josee Fortin, 44, skied out of bounds at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (KHMR) and were lost for nine days. On the seventh day of the incident Fortin died of hypothermia. During that time they stamped SOS signals in the snow, which were seen by a employees of a helicopter company.

According to the RCMP and the KHMR Statements of Defence, the SOS signs were known to KHMR and the Golden and District Search and Rescue Association from Feb. 17. KMHR claims it carried out its missing persons protocols and all guests were accounted for.

The RCMP was not notified until Feb. 21.

Blackburn is suing the RCMP, KMHR and Golden Search and Rescue Association in the death of Fortin. Their two sons are also seeking compensation through the courts.

In Statements of Defence filed recently all defendants claim they acted reasonably and were not negligent.

The defendants also claim that Fortin and Blackburn contributed to their own misfortune by going out of bounds without being prepared and by failing to notify anyone of where they were going. At one point, states the RCMP document, the couple were within walking distance of a cabin to take shelter in.

KHMR also claims in its statement that it is protected by the terms and conditions of the exclusion of liability set forth on the tickets sold to Blackburn and Fortin on Feb.15 and on signs posted at the ticket office and other locations in the ski area.

According to the Statement of Defence of the Attorney General of Canada and the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General of British Columbia, the RCMP's decision not to initiate a search on Feb. 21, 2009 was reasonable given the information they had at the time.

"These Defendants specifically deny that Fortin died as a result of any omissions by these Defendants or the RCMP..." said the Statement of Defence, filed July 20.

According to the statement, on Feb. 21 backcountry operator Purcell Helicopters called 911 to report that they had seen tracks and SOS signs in the Grizzly Cover and Canyon Creek areas adjacent to the KHMR. They believed the tracks looked a few days old.

That same day the RCMP contacted the Golden Search and Rescue about the tracks and the SAR member said they had already checked and no skiers were missing from the resort.

The RCMP was advised to check with another Golden SAR member who also worked as the KHMR Mountain Safety Manager and Avalanche Forecaster, which they did.

The forecaster said both KHMR and the Golden SAR had known about the tracks since Feb.17 and that the resort had completed all its missing person's protocols.

The RCMP also checked for missing person's reports in the Golden area, but there were none.

Then late on Feb. 23 the RCMP received a report from the Montreal police that Blackburn and Fortin were missing and believed to be in Banff, Alberta, Golden, or Revelstoke.

As a result of that information a search was carried out for the missing couple's rental vehicle but it was not found. It was later located in an underground parking lot of a hotel.

On the morning of Feb. 24 Purcell reported to the police that it had spotted a person, Blackburn, in Canyon Creek, 17 kilometres from KHMR.

Blackburn was rescued shortly after the sighting.

In March media reported that an RCMP officer apologized for failing to launch a search.

The Statement of Defence also revealed that the RCMP, Golden Search and Rescue, and Purcell Helicopters had met on Jan. 14 to go over emergency responses.

According to the statement how they were to respond to emergencies included:

• It was Golden SAR's practice to get their task number, which triggers insurance coverage, from the RCMP.

• If backcountry operators became aware of an emergency they should call 911, but if the emergency was extreme they could call Golden SAR, which would then contact the RCMP

• In emergency situations Golden SAR had in the past initiated their call out of volunteers prior to the RCMP having being contacted.

• The RCMP would call upon the expertise of Golden SAR, KHMR, Purcell and any other involved backcountry operator in deciding whether to open a file and thereby authorize search and rescue operations.

The Blackburn lawsuit prompted all SAR organizations province-wide to look at their insurance coverage.

Golden SAR stopped responding to emergency calls when the lawsuit was launched but returned to service this week.

While the Golden SAR does have third party liability about 60 per cent of the SAR groups in B.C. do not carry separate third party coverage.

This lack of coverage prompted the provincial body that represents SARs, the B.C. Search and Rescue Association, to meet with government to try and change the situation.

Don Bindon, president of BCSARA, said they are only a matter of weeks away from announcing not only funding for third party coverage for all SARs, but also a new comprehensive insurance policy.

"As much as we would wish that hard working volunteers wouldn't be seeing lawsuits the fact is we live in the real world. So the options we had were to do nothing or fix it, so we are fixing it," he said.

"The main thing about this for search and rescue is to get back to normal. It is hard enough doing this as a volunteer without having this going on."