LYTTON, British Columbia — A woman who lost her home in the fire that destroyed most of Lytton, B.C., in June has filed suit against Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, saying the railroads “caused or contributed” to the fire by operating when the heat made it unsafe to operate trains.
Global News reports Carel Moiseiswitsch has sued in B.C. Supreme Court, saying the province of British Columbia had notified the railroad of the extreme risk of wildfires.The filing says a CP train operating on CN tracks started the fire, and that the suit has been “brought on behalf of everyone who suffered loss of real or personal property or business losses … and everyone who sustained personal injuries.”
The suit also says CN and CP are responsible for actions such as operating a train when they knew or should have known conditions were unsafe, and for failing to have a fire preparedness plan. The fire, which started June 30, has burned an estimated 84,327 hectares [208,377 acres].
No official cause of the fire has yet been determined. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating whether a train caused the fire, and has indicated that could take up to two years. Canadian Pacific strongly objected when TSB Chairwoman Kathy Fox implied a train caused the fire, calling it “a wake-up call” to determine potential fire-prevention measures [see “Canadian Pacific objects …,” Trains News Wire, July 19, 2021]. Following the fire, Transport Canada enacted measures to address wildfire risk, among them development of a fire mitigation plan for extreme weather conditions [see “Safety board to examine if train caused Lytton fire …,” News Wire, July 12, 2021].
The lawyer representing Moiseiwitsch told the CBC his team has completed its own investigation and believes trains caused the fire. The suit has not yet been certified as a class action, which can take one to three years.
A CN representative told the CBC it had received the filing; CP did not respond. The two railroads have up to 21 days to file a statement of defense.
this lady seems like the type to blame everyone .And I fail to see how her lawyers can make a claim when even the Trans Board hasn’t confirmed one yet !
This just confirms that Shakespeare knew what he was talking about when he wrote his famous quote about lawyers.