The CN Rail bridge in Lytton was heavily damaged by last week’s devastating wildfire, but the Lytton First Nation wants the corporation to hold off on fixing it.
Acting chief John Haugan says it’s still not safe to enter the area, but he says CN had crews working at the bridge on the weekend.
Speaking on Saturday, during a public information session, Haugan said CN had not communicated its work plan with the band.
“There was a huge structure fire to the CN Bridge that crosses the Thompson River. I 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 offsite as well,” Haugan says.
“They haven’t really communicated their work strategy to us. We’re just really ticked that they think they’re so super powerful that they’re going to get their economy and their trains rolling before they even talk with us.
“They try to say ‘we’re going to help you.’ But this is the help we need, to get them to wise up and look at us and listen to us. That’s what we told (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau and Premier John Horgan. We have to be listened to, we can’t just be saying ‘there, there. You’ll be okay.'”
Haugan says the Thompson-Nicola Regional District also should take the same position as the Lytton First Nation and ask the corporation to stay out of the area for now.
In a statement sent to NL News, CN Rail says it was only inspecting the rail line on the weekend, and says it has no timeline for repairs.
“We will continue to work closely with the authorities as well as with local indigenous leadership regarding the next steps toward recovery,” the corporation says.
The Lytton Creek wildfire scorched about 90 per cent of the Village of Lytton on June 30, after it broke out near Main Street in the town core. It is responsible for at least two deaths, and has also destroyed properties on the Lytton First Nation. The fire has burned 7,200 hectares and fire activity has moved almost 10 kilometres north of Lytton along Highway 12, in the Fraser Canyon.
Nearly a week later, Lytton residents are still not allowed in their community because of risks from toxic smoke and smouldering areas of fire.
The fire was human-caused, and it’s believed to have started at or near CN Rail’s main line through Lytton. Witnesses saw sparks flying from train brakes before the blaze broke out, and a CN Rail train was stopped later that evening in Boston Bar when it was on fire, according to Global News.
A Transportation Safety Board spokesperson told NL News Monday morning that CN Rail had not reported any fire activity from June 30, even after its train was stopped further south when it was on fire. Federal legislation requires rail companies to report incidents like these.
Last year, CN Rail was fined $16.6 million for being deemed responsible for starting a wildfire near Lytton in June of 2015: the Cisco Road wildfire, which grew to 2,200 hectares. The fire started next to CN Rail tracks, and it was later determined it was started by sparks from workers cutting a rail line when the fire risk was extreme. That’s believed to be the largest fine ever in Canada for starting a wildfire.
The Lytton Creek fire broke out while winds were gusting to 71 km per hour, and it happened a day after the village set the all-time Canadian heat record, of 49.6 degrees Celsius. The fire danger rating in the village was “extreme” at the time and a heat warning was in effect – which is still in place today.
– with files from Amanda Thode
(Photo: Facebook: Deb Aldridge Thibault)
