As the families of the dead workers marked the somber anniversary, some said while the wait for answers has been frustrating, they are prepared to be patient if a lengthy investigation also means a thorough investigation. “I’m more than willing to wait,” Chris Wilnes said. His son, 23-year-old Cailen Vilness, was killed on his first day back at work after a holiday spent visiting family in his hometown of Kitimat. BC Vilness said he just wants all the facts. “We know the mechanics of what happened in that tower, but we’re still uncertain about a lot of the rest,” he said. “I want to know who is accountable.”
Police say investigation ‘complex’
On the morning of July 12, 2021, a crane boom fell approximately 25 stories as it was being dismantled at the site of a residential tower under construction by real estate firm Mission Group. It smashed into a neighboring office building and an old people’s home. Four construction workers were killed: Cailen Vilness, Jared Zook, and brothers Eric and Patrick Stemmer. Brad Zawislak, who worked in the office building, also died. A fifth construction worker was injured in the collapse. Kelowna RCMP say their investigation into what happened has been handed over to a special team of the serious crimes unit. “This is a complex investigation into what is being described as one of the largest workplace fatalities in BC history. There is a significant amount of technical evidence for my team to analyze,” said Kelowna RCMP Insp. Beth McAndie said in a press release. Cranes rise above the construction site where five men were killed in a crane collapse in Kelowna, BC, on July 12, 2021. A memorial to those who lost their lives can be seen on the site’s fencing. (Winston Szeto/CBC) WorkSafeBC says its investigators have spent the past year consulting with experts and engineers and reviewing evidence from the scene. There is no timeline for when it will be completed, but Jessica Berglund, WorkSafe BC’s Director of Occupational Health and Safety Investigations, said Tuesday that the majority of the work has been completed and investigators are “getting very close to completion.” A parallel BC Coroners Service investigation also remains open. The North Okanagan Labor Council held a memorial service for the victims Tuesday, with a minute’s silence to mark the time of the collapse, at approximately 10:45 a.m. PT. Mission Group said it would halt work at all its construction sites for an hour simultaneously and commemorated the dead workers with five blasts from its air horn. At a first anniversary memorial service in Kelowna on July 12, 2022, candles are lit in front of photos of Jared Zook and Brad Zawislak, two of the five men killed in a crane collapse in 2021. (Winston Szeto/CBC) Speaking at the memorial, Kelly Hutchinson, the vice president of the labor council, encouraged everyone to wait for the investigations to be completed before jumping to conclusions. But he said when the investigating agencies release their findings, everyone in the construction industry should take them seriously. “This could have been any of you at any time in your life. Accidents don’t discriminate and you end up paying the ultimate price to go to work,” Hutchinson told the crowd. “This is unacceptable, and therefore we must do better. I call on the entire industry and its workers to do so.”
Is my heart broken? my mind is trying to catch up
The last year has been difficult for the families of the men who died. Zook’s parents, Pam and Steven Zook, spoke at the memorial service Tuesday and described how their Christian faith helped them overcome the loss of their 32-year-old son. “It’s against the natural order of life for a parent to have to bury a child, whether that child is a baby, 10, 23, 28, 32 or 44. It’s still your child,” said Stephen Zook. “When your child is arrested, it takes a blow to your psyche that many parents struggle to recover from. The statistics will show that some don’t.” Vilness’ mother, Danielle Pritchett, said she doesn’t think she’ll ever come to terms with what happened and struggled to find the words to describe what it’s like to realize her son has been gone for a year. “There are no words to say what’s going through your mind because it’s more what’s going through your heart. The mind doesn’t really deal with the fact that my son is gone forever. My heart is broken, the mind he’s trying to get to me about everything that happened,” he said. Cailen Vilness is shown sitting on a construction crane in a family photo. The 23-year-old was one of four construction workers killed in a crane collapse in Kelowna, BC on July 12, 2021. (Submitted by Danielle Pritchett) Chris Vilness said he hopes the tragedy will lead to changes in regulations and training to ensure workers are always kept safe. “I understand there are always constraints on money and time, but they should never come at the expense of worker safety,” he said. “People don’t go to work to give their lives.”
