THE parents of a toddler who drowned in a backyard pool in Deep Cove say they want to see more inspections of private pools and stronger enforcement of safety rules.
Eighteen-month-old Brady Chryssolor was found submerged in the pool on the property of the family's rented home on Fairway Place on April 23. Efforts to revive him at the scene were unsuccessful, and he died later in hospital. The boy and his two sisters, aged three and six, were in the care of a nanny at the time of the accident.
Current bylaws require residential pools to have a "self-latching gate designed and constructed (to) return to a closed position when not in use" on the pool side of the gate. Andy Chryssolor, the father of the boy, said the gate on their pool did not have a latch.
"Pools are absolutely lethal to small kids," said Chryssolor. "We knew this, but we also didn't know that the fence at the back yard didn't have a latch on it, and the reason was, we never went down there."
Before moving into the house in September 2011, Chryssolor and his wife said they had asked their landlords to drain the pool and improve the fence. The landlords did come by and drained the hot tub, but left the pool full, said Chryssolor. The rest of the work was never done.
"It slipped through the cracks because we moved here in September of last year and we were heading into the winter," said Chryssolor. "We never used the pool. We never actually went down into the back."
Chryssolor said he doesn't blame the landlords, two young men in their 20s who fixed up the house and rented it out with the help of their father. Like him, said Chryssolor, the landlords were simply ignorant of the pool safety regulations. He believes the accident could have been avoided if an inspection had been done before the family moved in.
"They're just starting their lives out, and they renovated it with the best of intentions and they both told us they wanted to rent it to a family," said Chryssolor. "They really liked us, and we really liked them. They're great landlords."
Inspections are done when pools are first constructed, said Brian Bydwell, general manager of properties and permits for the District of North Vancouver. After that, it's up to the homeowner or occupier of the house to make sure the pool is maintained properly.
"We do not have a program for an annual inspection for those fences," said Bydwell. "As the bylaw sets out, it becomes the responsibility of the owner to maintain their fencing and property in conformance with the bylaw."
Bydwell said the district relies on "complaints and observations" from the public to make sure gates and fences around older pools are still safe. Brett Dwyer, manager of development services, said the district had only received one or two complaints about pools in the past five years.
In response to the tragedy, the district will create a database of all homes that have pools, said Richard Walton, mayor of the District of Vancouver. District staff will compile the list based on previous permits, utility billing and aerial photographs. The database will be complete by the fall of 2012 and could be used to send detailed information about safety to residents who have pools, said Walton.
"We're also looking at doing some public education in general," said Bydwell. "While we're looking at targeting pool owners in particular, (the information) should be broad enough that someone who's either renting or visiting a house is completely aware of all the hazards."
The Chryssolors said the database is a good first step, but would still like to see the district check pools on a regular basis.
"What really needs to happen if you're a pool owner is you need to have an inspection done every so often, at the expense of the homeowner, as part of your obligation of having a pool," said Alia Chryssolor, the mother of Brady Chryssolor.
The B.C. Coroner's Service has started an investigation into the toddler's death. The investigation will take several months to complete, according to a spokeswoman.
The district is waiting to see the coroner's report and recommendations before making any more changes.
"What we're trying to do is do some work ahead of time to anticipate what may be in the coroner's report," said Walton.
The drowning death follows two similar incidents on the North Shore in the past six years.
In July 2006, a four-year-old boy died in hospital after falling into a pool in Horseshoe Bay. In July 2010, a 19-month-old had a close call after being found face down in a pool on Nelson Avenue.
