EDMONTON – As Slave Lake continues to rebuild from the devastating fire of two summers ago, residents in the community are voicing concern about the integrity of a major transportation link.
A CN Rail bridge in the heart of the town was damaged in the massive fire that tore through the town in 2011. Pieces look charred, others are broken and rest on the ground. On the line itself, a number of ties appear to be rotting.
And with the recent disaster in Lac-Mégantic, the condition of the bridge – which carries between two to four trains each day – has many on edge.
“Those trains are carrying, like, oil and whatever else, and if that derails here, that’s right beside our high school; all our kids walk through there daily…there’s so many houses close to the area,” says Krista Curtis of the town’s Mane Street Barber Shop.
The line also runs right along the shoreline of Slave Lake, which is where the community draws its drinking water.
In recent weeks, pictures showing the fire damage to the bridge have been generating conversation on Facebook.
David Loyie, who has posted the photos, is worried that if something isn’t done, lives will be lost.
“I don’t want anybody to die here. We just had a major disaster by a fire coming through town from the outside, I don’t want to have a disaster here from a fire starting in the middle of town and spreading out.”
What has become the talk of the town has made its way to the town council. The mayor, Tyler Warman, says that CN did come to do testing on the bridge after the 2011 fire; but since then, people have noticed more degradation. He has reached out to CN to have the town’s concerns addressed not only about the bridge, but the integrity of the entire system.
“I know that problems aren’t isolated just to the bridge,” Warman says. “We just want someone here to let us know that our community is safe and our residents are protected.”
According to CN, the bridge has passed inspection, and meets or exceeds all requirements.
“The bridge is in safe condition for rail operations and our crews will continue to inspect the bridge and make sure it continues to meet those standards,” maintains Warren Chandler, the company’s Senior Manager for Public and Government Affairs. He adds the company is happy to share its inspection record with the town.
“We’ll sit down with any potential or willing customers, and we’ll sit down with municipalities and communities through which we operate, we want to make sure that the municipalities know safety is our utmost importance at CN.”
CN will present to town council on November 5th, giving residents the chance to hear first-hand why the company feels the line, including the bridge, is safe.
“Our council is going to have some tough questions for them, our residents are going to have some tough questions for them,” says the mayor, “and they deserve to have those questions answered.”
With files from Tom Vernon, Global News
Comments