ENDERBY — It was an explosion that rocked the community of Enderby, taking the life of firefighter Daniel Joseph Botkin.
The incident happened on December 29th, 2011 when a log home manufacturer caught fire.
It was a large fire but nothing the Enderby fire department couldn’t handle.
On the property, was a large steel shipping container — in it were chainsaws and a pressure washer. There was also a litre of methyl hydrate — alcohol.
After battling the fire for about an hour, crews were at the mop up stage when the shipping container suddenly exploded.
Botkin and another firefighter were standing only a few metres away when the doors to the container were ripped off by the force of the explosion.
The coroner says Botkin was struck by one of the doors, killing him instantly.
The other firefighter escaped with minor injuries.
The coroner says that following an extensive investigation, officials have determined that the fire started in a modular trailer on the property but they’re not sure how it started. Foul play has been ruled out.
It says the explosion that killed Botkin may have been the result of the fuel from the chainsaws in the shipping container mixing with the methyl hydrate.
The coroner goes on to say that the shipping container didn’t have large enough vents to handle the fumes from the chemical reaction.
It says fire fighter training did not include shipping containers — something that fire fighters will be paying closer attention to as a result of Botkin’s death.
The official cause of death has been ruled as multiple blunt force trauma.
Botkin was only 25 years old.
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