In anticipation of a provincial report into a fire that killed two firefighters last winter, Winnipeg's fire department says it's already made changes to improve firefighter safety.

Captains Tom Nichols and Harold Lessard died and four other firefighters were injured in February when they were trapped on the second floor of a burning Winnipeg home and then hit by a flashover, a huge fireball that reached thousands of degrees Celsius in seconds.

At the time of the deadly fire, the department insisted it had done everything by the book. But now the department admits there were problems in the way the fire was fought.

Deputy Chief Ken Sim said the department has learned two key lessons: training could be improved for certain types of fires, and the communication among firefighters at the scene could be "significantly better."

To address the first problem, the department has introduced a flashover simulator, which allows firefighters to practise battling certain types of fires.

The problems with communication among firefighters at the scene came to light after an investigation by the department's fire safety committee, Sim said.  As a result, the department has already made changes.

"We know they go toward improving fire ground activity, which obviously is something that can be done. We lost people, tragically, and had people injured in a fire There has to be room for improvement, so these areas are fairly obvious to us that we can help and move toward improvement."

Commanders in charge at the scene are now held accountable for knowing where every firefighter is at all times, such as whether they are in the burning building, and the information must be documented.

"Where are the people in the building? We've been going through that process and making sure that it's documented better — in fact, working a little more harmoniously on the fire ground," he said.

'Roller-coaster' for staff

Sim acknowledged the department has struggled to deal with both the deaths and the subsequent investigations.

"Without question, our staff has sort of been on a roller-coaster," he said. "They've been through interviews and certainly involved in similar fire situations, which brings up emotions and recollections of those events for people and, no question, it's been a very turbulent time for our department."

A report from the fire commissioner on what went wrong that January night is near completion. The province's Workplace Safety and Health branch is also investigating. Sim knows the province is likely to come down hard on the city.

"We fully expect there to be orders and instruction to the city on how to improve and avoid potential incidents like this in the future," he said.

Sim says he has no idea whether the changes the fire department has already made will address any concerns that could arise in the commissioner's report.

Before the report is released publicly, the fire department will have an opportunity to look over it, ask questions and challenge its findings.

Under provincial law, the city could be fined up to $150,000 if workplace health and safety rules were violated; senior employees with the city or fire department could face up to six months in jail.