WARNING: This story contains discussion of suicide and could be triggering for some people.
A claim with the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba in the death of a Winnipeg firefighter who took his own life earlier this year has been accepted, which the city’s firefighters’ union says means his family will now be entitled to financial benefits and counselling.
But the decision, which agrees Preston Heinbigner died as a result of a workplace injury, is also a “vindication” for everyone who knew him, said Tom Bilous, president of the United Firefighters of Winnipeg.
“There was never any question that the exposures from the job were … the dominant cause that led to this tragedy,” Bilous said Friday.
“When you have compassion, empathy and those soft skills, it not only makes you a great human, a great first responder and firefighter, but it can be a blessing and a curse.
“And I think that’s what we had here with Preston, one of the kindest individuals you’ll ever meet. And nobody fully realized how much he was carrying with him until it was too late.”
Heinbigner, 40, died by suicide on April 9. At the time, he and his wife, Shayda, had a two-year-old son and another baby on the way.
He had been a Winnipeg firefighter since 2007 and was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder related to trauma he’d seen while responding to calls on the job, according to his friends and colleagues.
WATCH | Winnipeg firefighters mourn loss of friend and colleague who died by suicide in April:
Preston Heinbigner died earlier this month. His colleagues and friends are now calling for better mental health supports for first responders.
In a memo obtained by CBC News, the firefighters’ union told its members it had learned the compensation board had accepted Heinbigner’s claim on Wednesday.
“Not only does this decision properly acknowledge that it absolutely was the effects of Preston’s exposures on the job as a firefighter that directly led to this tragedy,” but “it also recognizes that mental health injuries can have the same causal connection as physical injuries causing an unfortunate workplace fatality,” the memo said.
Union head Bilous said Heinbigner’s family will now have access to counselling, financial compensation and advice, as well as scholarships for his children. The determination also means they can apply for a federal grant program for families of first responders who have died as a result of their duties.
“It gives us some solace knowing that the family, his young family, will be taken care of not only today, but well into the future,” he said.
The decision also represents a “huge stride forward” in recognizing the cumulative mental health effects faced by first responders are workplace injuries, said Cameron Abrey, the recent past president of the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs.
“Nobody ever entered the career, or even in the role of a volunteer firefighter, nobody struck down that path with the thoughts of … having to deal with some of the things that they have to deal with,” said Abrey, who is also fire chief in Dauphin.
“If we have a broken arm, we’re going to see a doctor, and we’re going to have that fixed. But there’s many times where first responders receive those mental health injuries where they process it different, and … the scars aren’t always visible.
“But we still have to try and heal that scar as we would an open wound.”
Days of ‘suck it up, buttercup’ long gone: union head
Union head Bilous said he hopes the decision from the compensation board in Heinbigner’s case will help increase awareness of the risks to firefighters from what they encounter at work and improve the resources available to them, “so we can avoid these tragedies” in the future.
Premier Wab Kinew said in the weeks following Heinbigner’s death that more help was on the way for all first responders, as the province committed to pay for three counsellors to work with law enforcement, paramedics and firefighters.
Bilous said that change was “one silver lining” to come from the tragedy of the firefighter’s death.
But Dauphin’s Abrey said he still has questions about how first responders will be able to get help from those three service providers, and wonders if the new positions are enough to meet the need.
“When we look at, you know, approximately 10,000 first responders in the province of Manitoba between all agencies, three really are still going to be completely overwhelmed with the issues that are out there,” he said. “So do we have other potential solutions to that?”
According to data from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, the number of psychological claims made to the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba for paramedics and fire paramedics has climbed, along with an increase in calls for service.
A total of 236 claims were made in 2021 — up from 132 in 2020 and 148 in 2019. The number fell slightly to 214 claims in 2022 and 201 claims last year, the fire-paramedic service said.
Bilous encouraged anyone still struggling to keep reaching out for help until they get the resources they need to get better.
“We’re all here for you and we’re all looking out for each other,” Bilous said. “The days of, ‘suck it up, buttercup’ are long gone, and I’m very, very happy to tell you that.”
Heinbigner will also be honoured at the Manitoba fallen firefighters memorial in Winnipeg on Sept. 28 and at the International Association of Fire Fighters memorial in the U.S. in 2025.
If you or someone you know is struggling, here’s where to get help:
- Call or text 988. Calls and texts are directed to a network of partners in communities across the country offering suicide prevention services such as counselling.The 988 service is available in English and French to all.
- Talk Suicide Canada: 1-833-456-4566 (phone) | 45645 (text between 4 p.m. and midnight ET).
- Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 (phone), live chat counselling on the website.
- Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: Find a 24-hour crisis centre.
This guide from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health outlines how to talk about suicide with someone you’re worried about.