Vancouver hosted free Olympic events at its Live City sites in Yaletown and downtown. (CBC)

Vancouver's former chief electrical inspector says city inspectors told him several Olympic venues did not get final electrical approval before they were opened to the public.

Ark Tsisserev, who was fired from his position just weeks before the Winter Games began on Feb. 12, said the inspectors were simply not allowed access to the sites, because they were not given Olympic accreditation.

Tsisserev told CBC News on Wednesday morning that he believes the Hillcrest curling site, the International Media Centre, and the Yaletown live city site and others were all opened to the public before an electrical inspector signed off on them.

"When access was restricted, unless accreditation was provided, an inspector could not have access, so he could not provide inspection services," said Tsisserev.

No first-hand information

Rumours of the uncompleted inspections have been circulating on internet blogs for weeks, but Tsisserev said he signed a confidentiality agreement with the city, which does not allow him to discuss many aspects of his dismissal.

But he did tell CBC News he signed a letter for city manager Penny Ballem that said he did not support allegations that Olympic venues were unsafe, but only because his information was based on second-hand accounts provided to him by city electrical inspectors.

"I had concerns with the language and I advised my lawyer … he said as long as you don't have first-hand knowledge, so you don't violate a code of ethics, and you don't make wrong statements, you can sign it," he said.

"I signed it … because the information I got … it was information provided to me by some of my former staff. It means I didn't have a first-hand knowledge," said Tsisserev.

"At certain venues you have to be accredited — inspectors were no exception — so they requested accreditation and my staff advised me they never received it, so they could not provide inspection services," he said.

The B.C. Electrical Contractors Association has expressed concerns about Tsisserev's firing.

Mayor Gregor Robertson could not be reached for comment, but in past interviews he has said the dismissal was done for budgetary reasons and was not connected to concerns with Olympic venues.