An early morning fire along the train tracks adjacent to the village of Chu Chua on Aug. 9, 2024 has leadership looking for answers from Canadian National Railway (CNR).
Chu Chua Volunteer Fire Department (CCVFD) chief Ron Lampreau Jr. and Kukpi7 (Chief) George Lampreau from Simpcw First Nation hope to meet with CNR officials.
Fire chief Lampreau said at approximately 5 a.m. on Friday Aug. 9, he opened the curtains of his home to see a fire burning along the track crossing of 97.28 as he stepped out onto the deck of his home.
“I immediately paged the Chu Chua Volunteer Fire Department, and we arrived on scene at 5:13 a.m. to extinguish the blaze, which involved CNR railway ties burning at the crossing,” he told Black Press Media. “At 5:17 a.m. I called the CNR emergency number listed at the crossing to inform them of the fire on their right-of-way. They informed me that they had been aware of the fire since 2:41 a.m.”
Lampreau said the blaze was successfully extinguished by the volunteer firefighters, but when they returned to the fire hall they observed trains continuing to operate on the tracks above the fire, even while the railway ties were burning.
“Just as we informed our dispatch that all units were back at the hall, we received a call about another fire that had started south of the original one. We informed dispatch and asked them to contact CN to stop the trains and send a representative to clear the scene.”
After putting out the second fire, Lampreau said the fire crew was surprised to see “a train passing on the tracks over the fires” and once again a call was made to CN emergency dispatch to alert them that the “trains were still running.”
“CN responded that they were unable to stop the trains but would notify us when it was safe. This response was unclear and concerning,” said fire chief Lampreau. “A CN representative arrived 30 minutes later and inquired if there was still a fire on the tracks.”
Upon the arrival of the CN representative, the Chu Chua fire team cleared the scene “leaving the situation in CN’s hands," Lampreau said.
Kukpi7 Lampreau told Black Press following the track fires, chief and council, along with the CCVFD requested a meeting with CN officials as soon as possible about the fires and the potential risk to the Village of Chu Chua in the future.
“Those fires could have burned my house down or the village itself," Kukpi7 Lampreau said. "We are in process of organizing a meeting with CNR about this serious risk to our community and surrounding areas in the North Thompson Valley.”
Fire Chief Lampreau said CNR was notified at 2:41 a.m., but the fire continued to burn until 5:00 a.m. when he noticed it.
“Wildfires in August can spread very quickly, and we were fortunate that this fire did not spread into our community and grow into a major fire. With the Dunn Creek Fire still causing anxiety in our community, it is essential that if CNR is notified of a fire at 2:41 a.m., the Chu Chua Volunteer Fire Department should be paged immediately. We requested that the trains be stopped, and were told they had been stopped, but they had not. This is a significant safety concern for my crews, for whom I am responsible on a fire scene.”
Fire chief Lampreau said the trains continued to operate on the tracks over the fires for most of the night, causing wind to spread the fire further, adding, “It is imperative that we improve communication and protocols when dealing with fires on CNR property.”
Both Kukpi7 Lampreau and fire chief Lampreau are in process of organizing a meeting with CN Rail’s CEO. So far Simpcw Chief and council and CCVFD have met with the CN Rail Indigenous Relations team about the incident. CN Rail has hired a fire prevention officer to address these types of situations and Simpcw is hoping to meet with CN Rail officials to discuss this and other potential fire risks in the near future.
Black Press has reached out to CNR through their media relations division and at the time of press has not heard back.
Watch for updates in coming issues of the surgeryitaly and Barriere Star/Journal.
