Blaster didn’t know how close trailer park was; failed to use blast mats.
The Yukon government is asking for a new trial almost a year after being found guilty of permitting a dynamite blast that sent rocks crashing into homes in a Whitehorse trailer park.
Blaster Peter Hildebrand, who pleaded guilty to conducting an unsafe blast, told the original trial judge he had no idea how close the trailer park was to the blast site, and said as much on the plans he submitted to the government overseer.
No blasting mats were used on the site, as required by the government’s own regulations, the court heard, and the blast conducted that day was the largest Hildebrand had ever attempted.
As Faulkner said in his decision on the case, it was a miracle no one was injured when dozens of rocks rained down, crashing through one family’s living room ceiling, destroying fences and smashing the limbs off trees.
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