Following the fire that destroyed the town of Lytton, BC on 30 June 2021, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) conducted significant investigative work to determine if there was a definitive connection between railway operations through Lytton, BC and the fire that destroyed the town.
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On 30 June 2021, at approximately 1648 Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), a fire was reported near the Canadian National (CN) right-of-way in the vicinity of Mile 98.14 of the CN Ashcroft Subdivision, just west of the town of Lytton, British Columbia (BC).
The fire grew rapidly due to the extreme hot and dry conditions combined with high velocity winds, and ultimately devastated the majority of the structures in the town’s downtown area.
Train C73152-29, a westbound Canadian Pacific (CP) loaded unit coal train (157 cars), operated by CN Crew, was the last train to pass through Lytton on the CN Ashcroft Subdivision prior to the first report of fire. The train operated through the suspected area of the fire’s origin at about 1630, about 18 minutes prior to the reporting of the fire.
It was travelling at 25 mph (40 km/h) with low to moderate throttle to maintain speed. CP 300-29 was the last train to pass through the Lytton area eastbound on the CP Thompson Subdivision prior to the 1st report of the fire. There was no occurrence reported to the TSB by either CN or CP and nor were they aware of any such occurrence when specifically asked by the TSB.
The CP train C73152-29 was operated by a CN crew as this section of track is under a directional running agreement between CN and CP. Loaded trains of both railways operate westward on the CN Ashcroft Subdivision and empty trains of both railways operate eastward on the CP Thompson Subdivision.
The TSB deployed an investigator on 9 July 2021 to gather information, examine and photograph the area, and assess the circumstances to determine if the rolling stock that passed through Lytton could have caused or sustained a fire.
The TSB requested the lead and mid-train forward-facing videos (FFV) from C73152-29 and FFV from CP 300-29 from both CN and CP. TSB investigators examined the data from the last 2 hot box detectors encountered by C73152-29 located at Seddall, Mile 82.8 and Lasha, Mile 96.5. There were no anomalies noted.
TSB investigators downloaded and reviewed data from the train C73152-29 locomotive event recorder from the lead locomotive and the tail end remote locomotive. There were no anomalies noted with the operation of the train through Lytton
The TSB investigation has not identified any link between railway operations and the fire. The wildfire remains under investigation by BC Wildfire Service and the RCMP. ■
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