The Village of Lytton, B.C., and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District are suing Canada’s two national railways and Transport Canada, alleging they were negligent to let trains pass through the town during the deadly 2021 heat dome, before the community was razed by wildfire.
The notice of claim says a train passed through the village 18 minutes before the first report of a fire near the tracks that eventually destroyed 90 per cent of the town’s buildings and scorched an additional 837 square kilometres of land.
In the claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court on June 16, lawyers allege Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways continued to operate in late June 2021, despite record-setting heat and an extreme wildfire danger….