Former Stavely fire chief and deputy fire chief file court actions over their dismissals

Stavely’s former fire chief and deputy fire chief are suing the town, the MD of Willow Creek and others.

The pair claim they were improperly fired after raising serious safety concerns.

In 2018, not long after he moved to Stavely, Ben Blakeley signed up to be a volunteer firefighter.

It was his first time working as a firefighter, and he enjoyed serving his neighbours.

“I was looking to do something for the community and with my spare time. So, I thought I would give it a try, and that’s where we ended up,” said Blakeley.

He was elevated to fire chief in 2024, despite, according to court documents, having to work to clear his name against false allegations of prostitution and a criminal investigation.

Amid it all, he started raising workplace safety concerns.

Then, this past April, he says he was fired without cause.

“I was asked to resign by my town CAO or I would be removed. I was kind of caught off guard by that. And the OHS conversations came up,” said Blakeley.

Now he’s suing after what he claims to have been an unfair and improper investigation.

So is former deputy fire chief Greg Olsen.

He says he was also fired without cause after raising safety concerns within the department.

“It was frustrating for both the fire chief and I, seeing these concerns and then being met with no action or corrective action,” said Olsen.

Major safety concerns included long workdays for the volunteer force and a lack of AEDs available.

They also raised issues about budgeting and governance.

Both have named the town of Stavely, its CAO Dacia Sundquist, the MD of Willow Creek and its director of emergency services at the time, Kelly Starling, in their court actions.

“My town went as far as to not even wait for the results to come back and be explained to me by the MD of Willow Creek for the investigation. That was supposed to be impartial. I was terminated on Friday, I didn’t get my results back, the town was told that I wouldn’t be meeting with them with regards to the investigation till Monday morning. And they didn’t care about that either,” said Blakeley.

Blakeley is seeking at least $250,000 and Olsen $130,000 in lost income and reputational damage.

Both say it’s not about the money but rather safety.

“I want the changes made. I want the public to be aware of what’s going on. Again, we’re a small volunteer hall. So, to lose two leadership positions, that is a huge void to fill,” said Olsen.

The Town of Stavely declined to comment.

The MD, Sundquist and Starling did not respond to CTV’s requests for interviews.

No statements of defence have been filed. And none of the allegations have been proven in court.