An Edmonton man was one of the three people that died during an ammonia leak inside an ice rink in Fernie, British Columbia last Tuesday.
Jason Podloski was born and raised in Edmonton, but most recently lived in southern Alberta. He was 47.
“He was such a wonderful boy and there’s a big hole in our heart because he’s gone now,” his mother, Donna Podloski, told CTV News on the phone.
Podloski, a refrigerator expert, was called to Fernie to do an emergency maintenance at the rink where he subsequently died. Two Fernie residents, 59-year-old Wayne Hornquist and 52-year-old Lloyd Smith, were the other two victims.
“What happened there was, basically I would say, beyond their control,” Jason’s father, Peter Podloski, said. “There was definitely a catastrophe that caught them off guard.”
Podloski is leaving two young sons behind.
“It is always difficult to not have the father figure and he was a tremendous father figure because of the type of human that he was and that he is,” cousin Mona Podloski said.
A GoFundMe has been created to support Podloski's two kids.
With files from Angela Jung
