Coun. Steve Peters didn’t maintain again throughout Tuesday’s St. Thomas metropolis council assembly.
Sitting within the mayor’s chair with Joe Preston away, Peters ripped the Canadian Nationwide Railway (CNR) after a large railroad tie hearth on Oct. 10.
“I’m really frustrated with CN and the risk that they’re putting our firefighters,” Peters instructed council. “The risk that they’re putting the neighbours to in the neighborhood, and quite honestly, the risk that they’re causing to the environment. A special foam has to be used to deal with these creosote fires and that has to go someplace.”
Peters known as on fellow councillors to direct workers to “give marching orders to proceed and deal with CN to get this site cleaned up.”
Peters additionally known as on St. Thomas Fireplace Chief Dave Gregory to clarify how his crew dealt with that day.
Firefighters battle a railroad tie hearth in St. Thomas, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024 (Supply: St. Thomas Fireplace Division)
“That event took 53 of our employees over four hours to extinguish,” Gregory instructed council. “If you’re thinking about the wages of our employees, fire prevention chief, the deputies, four EMS were on standby, and two St. Thomas police officers were there. There were also Two CN Rail police, CN workers and border work staff. Just in wages alone for that time we’re over $10,000 in overtime wages and other people there and then look at the foam costs. We went through 15 containers of foam, that’s $15,000.”
The smoke from that day may very well be seen throughout town, and firefighters needed to ask close by residents to go inside. These residents included Peters, who lives lower than a kilometre approach from the blaze on St. Catharine St.
Peters mentioned he couldn’t sit on his again deck and referred to the odor as “putrid.”
“This is at least the third railway tie fire this year that we’ve had to deal with,” mentioned Peters. “There’s been another fire on site back in June. We want CN to be good neighbours. We’re pleased they’ve been a tenant in St. Thomas for a long time, but we need them to be good neighbours. When they’re putting our community at risk through fires like this, our firefighters, the neighborhood, CN needs to be a good neighbor and step forward.”
St. Thomas Metropolis Councillor Steve Peters expressed frustration with the Canadian Nationwide Railway throughout a council assembly on Oct. 15, 2024. (Brent Lale/ Ontario Chronicle London)
Gregory estimates this fireplace will value round $30,000 in wages and provides. He desires this rail yard web site cleaned up.
“These fires take us away from covering the citizens of St. Thomas,” mentioned Gregory. “There was rail cars stored on those tracks too, so if this was happening in a different time of the day or at night when it isn’t noticed, these could be bigger problems than what we had seen. We want this cleaned up, or find a storage area where the rail ties are confined.”
St. Thomas police and hearth prevention officers are investigating this fireplace as an arson.
Peters mentioned St. Thomas will not be alone with regards to fires of this nature. He referenced a fireplace final week in Chatham-Kent and one other in Wisconsin.
St. Thomas Fireplace Chief Dave Gregory defined to metropolis council on Oct. 15, 2024, {that a} railroad tie hearth on Canadian Nationwide Railway value greater than $30,000 to extinguish. (Brent Lale/ Ontario Chronicle London)
“This has to stop, and we need CN immediately to move forward to get these ties gone,” mentioned Peters.
CTV has reached out to CNR for response to Peters and Gregory’s feedback. They did present anybody to reply our questions however did present an announcement from CN spokesperson Ashley Michnowski:
“The cause of last week’s fire remains under investigation. Safety is a core value at CN. CN crews routinely temporarily store equipment, including rail ties, on CN property across our network. For safety and security reasons only CN trained personnel should be on CN property. Should the public see anyone trespassing, we ask that they call our 24/7 Emergency Line at 1-800-465-9239.”
