Government investigating CN’s actions after rail crew caught in wildfire

Federal authorities are looking into whether Canadian National Railway Co. broke the law after a crew had to be evacuated from a train engulfed in flames in northwestern Ontario.

The government is “conducting followup oversight” to determine if CN failed to comply with rules under the Railway Safety Act, said Transport Canada spokesperson Hicham Ayoun.

“Transport Canada will not hesitate to implement operational restrictions or protective measures when necessary,” he said in an email Friday.

The department is also working with Employment and Social Development Canada to determine whether health and safety violations occurred, he said.

A video of the incident shared widely on social media showed orange-red flames closing in on the train near Armstrong, Ont., earlier this week as trees burned on both sides of the tracks.

“Y’all need to hurry up here. Like, seriously, we’re encased in flames now,” a worker can be heard telling radio operators.

The trade union, which represents more than 10,000 railworkers, said the crew had to be treated for smoke inhalation and called on CN to stop operating through active wildfire zones.

“Make no mistake, this incident should never have happened. CN should never have sent a train down those lines,” said Teamsters Canada president Paul Boucher in a news release, while commending the crew for their courage and professionalism.

“That fire has been raging for five weeks.”

CN has said it is investigating the circumstances around the incident, noting the crew was safely pulled out of the area — more than 200 kilometres north of Thunder Bay — on Monday.

The Montreal-based company suspended rail operations in a portion of northwestern Ontario on Monday, halting all freight traffic along a stretch of mainline track crucial to cross-country hauls.

“The safety of our employees, the community, and emergency responders remains our top priority,” CN said in a statement Thursday.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. said its operations are not directly affected by wildfires in Ontario or Western Canada, with trains in those regions “operating normally at this time.”

Roughly 190 wildfires continue to rage across the northern part of Ontario, prompting 10 community evacuations so far and already burning through more land than all of last year’s fire season total, said Premier Doug Ford on Friday.

Some First Nations leaders have criticized the government’s response and communication, in particular in the case of Whitesand First Nation and Namaygoosisagagun First Nation — also known as Collins First Nation — which was evacuated without help from the province.

— With files from Kathryn Mannie in Toronto