Lytton First Nation Acting Chief John Haugen vented his frustration with CN Railway during an information session on Saturday, July 3.
Haugen was one of several people providing updates about the wildfires in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD), and spoke about the situation in Lytton, where a fire that started on June 30 has destroyed 90 per cent of the town.
害羞草研究所淲hat really concerns me right now is different organizations, like CN, right next to my community,害羞草研究所� he said at the information session. 害羞草研究所淥n IR 24 we still have a standing gas station on that reserve and there was a huge structure fire to the CN bridge that crosses the Thompson River.
害羞草研究所淚 actually am hoping that CN will stay out of there and not try to repair their bridge until this fire is completely out. We want them to be off-site as well and we want communication with them. They haven害羞草研究所檛 really communicated their work strategy to us. We害羞草研究所檙e just really ticked that they think they害羞草研究所檙e so super powerful that they害羞草研究所檙e going to get their economy and their trains rolling before they even talk with us.
害羞草研究所淭he destruction that we have to live with is not insurmountable, but we want to be involved in how we return to living within our community. CN is someone that has to be accountable to what害羞草研究所檚 going forward with any work they do to remediate that bridge. We want to be involved.害羞草研究所�
Multiple sources are pointing the finger at CN, whose mainline runs through the community, saying that they saw sparks coming from a passing train at the same time the fire started. There are also reports that the fire was all through the town in a matter of minutes; one video shot by a woman who was in Lytton at the time captures her wondering aloud which direction she should take in order to get out, as fire and smoke were all around her. However, none of the allegations have been proven and RCMP said Sunday that they are investigating all avenues.
CN has said it will provide 害羞草研究所渇ull assistance害羞草研究所� to help authorities identify the cause of the incident, which they describe as 害羞草研究所渢ragic害羞草研究所�. CP has said it will fully cooperate with investigators if they are asked to do so.
In July 2020, CN was found to be responsible for the Cisco Road wildfire 10km south of Lytton, which started on June 11, 2015 and destroyed 2,200 hectares. An investigation concluded that rail workers cutting a line sparked the blaze, which burned for four months and caused several evacuations. The fire danger rating in the Lytton area was 害羞草研究所渆xtreme害羞草研究所� at the time.
CN was ultimately fined more than $16.6 million in damages and fines for that fire. The amount included nearly $9.4 million for the value of forest and grass land resources that were destroyed, as well as more than $6.9 million for the cost to the B.C. government to fight the fire; $169,000 to cover the cost of reforestation; a $75,000-dollar administrative penalty; and $52,000 for the value of Crown timber that burned.
Both CN and CP have been asked if they would halt trains during the extreme heatwave that has been gripping much of the province recently, but neither company has addressed the question directly. On June 29, the day before the fire, Lytton recorded a high of 49.6掳C, setting a new record for hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada. It was the third day in a row that Lytton had set a new Canadian heat record.
In 2017, CN agreed to stop doing rail grinding during six weeks in July and August of that year, when temperatures are usually at their hottest in the region. The announcement came after the matter was raised by the TNRD害羞草研究所檚 Steve Rice, the director for Area 害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所�, which includes Lytton.
害羞草研究所淭here were four wildfires in Boston Bar and TNRD Area 害羞草研究所業害羞草研究所� in the last couple of years, three of which were possibly caused by track grinding,害羞草研究所� Rice said at the time. 害羞草研究所淚 wanted to raise the issue, as it is getting quite scary.害羞草研究所�
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