The chair of the Transportation Safety Board says more work is needed to prevent wildfires caused by trains, in large part because of climate change.

There won’t be any recommendations from the TSB report’s into the Lytton fire, because it found no evidence that trains caused it.

But Kathy Fox says trains can start wildfires, and that the concern is still valid.

“More needs to be done to make sure we don’t have a critical fire that is started by a train. And I believe that is why Transport Canada and the Minister of Transport issued a Ministerial order back in July, with very specific conditions that were asked of the rail companies. And of course the railway companies themselves don’t want to initiate a major fire. So they’re already taking steps.”

On July 9, Transport Canada issued more stringent safety requirements for trains travelling between Ashcroft and Boston Bar. Those temporary measures are in place until Oct. 31, although they only apply when the fire risk is “extreme,” which hasn’t been the case in almost two months.

Fox says there have been 170 reports this year from rail companies about fires – either on the trains, or on the right-of-way. She says that’s close to triple the five-year average.

“In the past, what we have seen is that they haven’t had significant consequences. Typically, you see brush fires that are quickly put out, either by the rail company itself or by first responders. With climate change, with increasing extreme weather – and particularly hot, dry conditions – given that fires can be started by trains, and given that they may be operating in these conditions, more needs to be done.”

She says there are two active investigations in western Canada into fires believed to be caused by trains, which could lead to their own recommendations.

“One involves a fire in the train that was going through on the Sparwood subdivision near Elko, and the other was lit along the right of way in a train going through Calgary. So we’re going to look at all of those issues in the context of those two investigations, and we’ll see if investigations are warranted.”

Meanwhile, residents of Lytton are no closer to getting answers after the TSB’s report last week. It did not conclude whether a train did or did not cause a wildfire, but said it did not find evidence of that in its investigation.

Property owner Jennifer Thoss says she thinks there were a lot of people upset who were hoping for some sort of closure, as she says the community is still looking for answers about what happened.

“If they [railways] are not responsible, they’re not responsible. I shouldn’t say I’m disappointed, I just find it hard to believe.”

And the TSB says it would reopen its investigation only if compelling new evidence came forward.

“On June 30, I actually made a couple of calls to both railways – CN and CP – to find out if there had been any maintenance work going on in the area, on the 30th or in previous days, that may have led to something. They were very forthcoming, we had no issues gathering information,” lead investigator James Carmichael says.

While there’s no evidence to say a train started the fire, Carmichael says the fire’s point of origin was within five feet of the rail line.

Interestingly, no residents were interviewed during the board’s investigation, which Carmichael confirmed when pressed by reporters last week.

Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart says the board did leave the door open for residents to report information on the potential cause of the fire, based on what she heard during that news conference.

“I think that the people of Lytton were hoping for much more,” she said, when asked for thoughts on the TSB report. “For people who have lost their homes, I can only imagine how important it is to know where the fire came from. There are two other bodies that are looking at this issue. I’m sure it’s cold comfort. But this is not done yet. We will push very hard to make sure it’s not done until we know how the fire started.”

Tegart says the RCMP or the BC Wildfire Service may still identify a cause, even though the TSB report did not.