Morgan Kitchen was 24. He was from Calgary, based out of the Rocky Mountain House fire base, and he was fighting a section of the Jasper Wildfire Complex on August 3, 2024, when a tree fell on him.
His crew gave first aid. Jasper National Park visitor safety specialists and the Alberta Wildfire unit carried him out on a wheeled stretcher to the nearest helipad, and he was flown to the Parks Canada compound in Jasper where a STARS air ambulance was waiting. He was pronounced dead shortly after the transfer.
Two years later, his employer has been charged.
Six charges against the ministry
Alberta's Ministry of Forestry and Parks faces six counts under the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act, laid July 29, 2026.
The charges allege the ministry failed to ensure the health and safety of workers. It didn't train them adequately, according to the allegations, and it failed to assess and control the hazards posed by dangerous trees.
The remaining counts allege it failed to establish and maintain an area excluding workers from a hazardous place, failed to adequately assess a work site before dangerous work began, and failed to establish a no-work zone.
None of the charges have been proven in court.
The charges came five days before the deadline
Alberta's OHS Act requires a prosecution to be commenced within two years of the alleged offence.
Kitchen died on August 3, 2024. The charges were laid on July 29, 2026.
What that timing means for the case is a separate question, and one the Supreme Court addressed this spring. On May 29, 2026, the court set out how delay is assessed in regulatory prosecutions under the Charter, reaffirming that provincial cases should generally conclude within 18 months while establishing a test for complex matters involving large evidentiary records or expert testimony.
The union representing his colleagues is glad
James Gault, a vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents wildland firefighters, told CBC News the union is glad OHS is pursuing charges against the province.
"Our members are in dangerous situations," he said.
Gault said Kitchen's death shows the impact a workplace death has on a community, and that it left his colleagues shaken.
Why a falling tree is somebody's responsibility
Danger trees are named in three of the six charges, and they kill wildland firefighters more often than fire does.
A tree burned at the base, or with a compromised root system, can come down without warning hours or days after the flames have passed through. Assessing them is a trained skill. Falling them is separate work again.
That's the shape of the allegations. Not that Kitchen was sent somewhere on fire, but that he was working under trees somebody was supposed to have looked at first.
He was northeast of Jasper, after the worst of the fire had already gone through the townsite.
The government's answer was two sentences long
Arthur Green, press secretary for the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services, confirmed the government is aware charges have been laid.
"As this matter is now before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics of the allegations or the legal proceedings," Green said. "Our thoughts remain with our Alberta Wildfire colleague's family, friends and co-workers. Safety is our highest priority. We remain committed to providing a safe workplace for our staff."
Todd Loewen was forestry minister when Kitchen died. He was visibly emotional at a wildfire update that weekend, ordered flags flown at half-mast at forestry and parks buildings, and said nothing he could say would make the loss easier for Kitchen's family, community or those with him on the front lines. Kitchen's family was eligible to apply for a $100,000 memorial fund.
He left Beiseker for the Royal Marines
Kitchen came to the Beiseker Fire Department as a young man wanting a career in emergency response, according to a post the department made after his death. He served in the military, then left Beiseker to join the Royal Marines.
A procession honouring him ran along a highway in Hinton the Sunday after he died. Fire departments in Airdrie, Carstairs, Didsbury and Beiseker posted condolences. His funeral was held in Calgary that month.
Beiseker Fire Department has since established a scholarship in his name.
The 2024 Jasper wildfire destroyed 358 structures in the townsite, roughly a third of the buildings there.
Sources:
CBC News, "Alberta Forestry and Parks charged under OHS Act over 2024 death of man battling Jasper wildfire," August 4, 2026: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-charges-firefighter-death-jasper-wildfire-9.7296435
Global News, "Alberta ministry hit with charges after death of wildland firefighter," August 2026: https://globalnews.ca/news/12009814/morgan-kitchen-alberta-ohs-charges/
Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act
Jasper Wildfire Complex Unified Command statements, August 2024
Beiseker Fire Department public statements, August 2024
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