Less than three weeks after a massive fire destroyed a trestle bridge in Mayerthorpe, rail service has been restored to the community.
Construction on a new trestle bridge was completed Sunday, a spokesperson for CN Rail said Tuesday, restoring rail service between Mayerthorpe and Whitecourt.
Kate Fenske said CN crews worked for 20 days straight to replace the 1,200-foot wooden trestle bridge that was destroyed by fire on April 26.
Crews brought in 190,000 metric tonnes of material to create part of the structure.
READ MORE: Trestle bridge fire in Mayerthorpe marks area’s 17th blaze in 6 days
Lawson Michael Schalm, a 19-year-old volunteer firefighter in Mayerthorpe, was charged with 18 counts of arson in relation to a recent rash of fires in the area, including the blaze which destroyed the CN trestle bridge.
Schalm is a junior firefighter with the Mayerthorpe Fire Department and was standing alongside firefighters battling the trestle bridge blaze at the end of April.
READ MORE: ‘We didn’t see it coming’: Mayerthorpe fire chief on member charged with arson
Schalm, who Global News learned is the son of former Mayerthorpe mayor Albert Schalm, signed on to be part of the volunteer department when he turned 18.
Mayerthorpe is located 120 kilometres north of Edmonton.
With files from Emily Mertz, Global News.
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