No inquest for Lake Wahnapitae boating deaths

“While inquests are a very important forum for death investigation, they are only one of the processes available,” the press release said. “On average, Ontario coroners investigate approximately 16,000 deaths a year and we currently have an average of 46 inquests a year. Alternatively, recommendations are routinely offered by one of the OCC’s (Office of the Chief Coroner) six expert death review committees.”

On June 30, 2013, Stephanie Bertrand, 25, and Matthew Humeniuk, 33, died as a result of injuries from a boating accident on Lake Wahnapitae. Michael Kritz, 34, was killed when the incident's only survivor, Rob Dorzek, lit a signal fire that accidentally burned the boat.

A 911 dispatcher told Dorzek to start the fire.

According to documents the Toronto Star obtained, the response to the accident was plagued by delays and confusion.

The 911 dispatcher was not able to track the boat's location, which delayed help to the scene for an hour after the initial call for help.

The Office of the Chief Coroner said it met with representatives from the Greater Sudbury Police Service, Greater Sudbury Emergency Services and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to examine the circumstances behind the boating deaths.

The working group offered 14 recommendations in the spring of 2014 — six recommendations for the province and eight for the municipality.
Those included:

That the City of Greater Sudbury emergency services agencies develop a local Joint Emergency Services Operational Group that would develop standardized, co-ordinated and integrated approaches to emergency situations.

That municipalities adopt a command structure with “dynamic capabilities understood by all emergency services.”

And that the City of Greater Sudbury, along with partners such as the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care develop and maintain a list of major lakes, parks, trails and assign staging areas for centralized responses.

Both the families of the deceased and the Sudbury Professional Fire Fighters Association called for an inquest to investigate the boating accident.

At 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 8, officials from Greater Sudbury Fire and Paramedic Services and Greater Sudbury Police Service will be issuing a joint agency statement regarding the coroner’s investigation.

Out of respect for the families, Fire and Paramedic Services and Police Services have chosen to refrain from commenting further until Monday’s briefing.