Eyes on the coast Death of a keeper puts fate of Canada lighthouses in doubt

On a cloudy but calm morning early in April, a helicopter touched down on a string of remote islands off British Columbia's Pacific coast.

- Leyland Cecco

One person alighted; two others climbed onboard and the aircraft rose into the sky.

The man made his way towards Triple Island lighthouse, an octagonal concrete tower erupting from the trio of islets. It sits midway up Canada's west coast, a seascape notorious for its battering storms, heavy fog and hostile waters.

Chief among the lists of tasks of lightkeepers working at the station, known to locals as "The Rock" or "Little Alcatraz," is to deliver weather reports every three hours.

But that day, the first report never came. Crews tried to raise the lighthouse keeper on marine radio channels and his mobile phone, but all efforts were met with silence.

"Lightkeepers have a record of being perfect on timing," said Jim Abram, a former president of the Lightkeepers Union. "If they miss a report, it's for an emergency."

A helicopter was dispatched from the Langara station lighthouse. When the crew touched down, they confirmed their worst fears: the lightkeeper was dead.

"You never staff a lightstation with only one person," said Abram. "The three other keepers on that station rotation are just devastated and left with a lot of questions-most of which we'll never know the answer to because there was just one person on that island."

The death of the keeper, whose name has not been released, has prompted questions over workplace safety rules, shaken the tightly knit group of guardians, and renewed fears of destaffing.

As an investigation unfolds, those who serve as the "eyes and ears" in remote parts of Canada worry the incident will be used as a pretext to automate yet another lighthouse.

Of the 750 lighthouses scattered across the country, many were constructed in areas where safe navigation was a challenge. They were guardrails against disaster.