Investigation into N.S. fire truck collision with snowmobiler concludes without charges
Blake Nicholson later died and his fiancée has filed a civil lawsuit against former fire chief Jerrold Cotton
___________________
· Gareth Hampshire · CBC News ·
No charges are being laid after an RCMP investigation into a collision last winter in Nova Scotia’s Cumberland County in which a fire truck hit an injured snowmobiler who later died.
Then volunteer chief Jerrold Cotton was driving the fire truck that had been called to help Blake Nicholson, who was snowmobiling in Collingwood Corner, N.S., on the evening of Feb. 21, 2025, when he crashed into a snowbank, according to police.
The 28-year-old father from Springhill was getting help in the roadway when he was hit by the fire truck, police said.
RCMP confirmed in an emailed statement to CBC News that their investigation, which was assisted by the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service, has concluded without charges.
The statement said “the evidence collected through the investigation did not prove, on the objective belief of reasonable grounds, that an offence had been committed.”
Police said that is the threshold that must be met before charges could be laid.
CBC News has reached out to Cotton by email but has not received a response.
Cotton was discharged as chief by the Municipality of Cumberland and banned from the Collingwood and District Volunteer Fire Department station following the incident.
Nicholson’s fiancée, Maddi Mitchell, filed a civil lawsuit last April against Cotton and the municipality.
“This has turned her life upside down,” said Virginia Gillmore, the lawyer representing her in the civil action.
“We’re still hopeful the context of the civil lawsuit is going to bring some answers at least and some accountability.”
No statements of defence have yet been filed by Cotton or the municipality in the lawsuit.
‘Injured but alive’
Gillmore said Nicholson was Mitchell’s common-law partner and she claims his death significantly affected her finances.
“She was a working mother and her spouse — the deceased — was caring for the child,” Gillmore said. “Because he’s no longer able to do that, her costs have changed.”
The couple’s son is now three years old.
The lawsuit says Nicholson was “injured but alive” after the accident on his snowmobile in Collingwood Corner.
It alleges the driver of the fire truck “failed to stop or slow down and drove directly into the deceased.”
Municipality accused of negligence
The statement of claim alleges Cotton was driving at an excessive speed for the circumstances and road conditions and operated the vehicle in a careless and reckless manner.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The lawsuit also accuses the municipality of negligence in a series of issues, including failing to adequately evaluate the competence of its volunteers.
Those allegations have not been tested in court either and the municipality’s CAO said it would not be commenting.
Gillmore said she is hoping for more information from the RCMP, including eyewitness accounts of what was seen from various angles.
“That essentially will be the foundation for our civil suit,” she said.
No monetary figure has yet been attached to the claim.
Two other lawsuits have also now been filed against Cotton, one by the parents of Blake Nicholson and his two grandmothers, and the other by Nicholson’s uncle and two cousins.
Both of those actions, filed last November, also name the municipality and the Collingwood fire department as defendants.
There are no statements of defence on file in those cases.
Cotton is facing an unrelated impaired driving charge after a single-vehicle crash last May in Sackville, N.B. He is scheduled to go to trial on that matter in December.
He previously pleaded guilty to impaired driving in 2020.
Police said last year they did not believe alcohol or drugs to be a factor in the snowmobile incident but said a roadside breath sample was not requested.