CN settles Alberta wildfire claims

[five_alarm]

EDMONTON, AB - CN has agreed to pay the Alberta government $18.6 million to settle a claim arising from a fire near Chisholm in 2001.

The railway will give the government $10 million and spend $8.6 million over the next decade on programs to reduce wildfires in the province, the government said Friday. CN will also pay uninsured residents of the northern Alberta community, although the government announcement did not mention any specific figure.

From the CBC Nov. 19, 2001:
Alberta charges rail companies in connection with forest fire (http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2001/11/19/chisholm011119.html)

Source: cbc.ca (http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/01/13/chisholm-alberta060113.html?ref=rss)

[five_alarm]

EDMONTON, AB - CN Rail is paying what is being hailed as the biggest settlement of its kind in Canadian history to settle a claim by Alberta that one of its trains caused a massive forest fire in 2001. The $18.6-million settlement was an-nounced yesterday in a joint release by CN and the province, avoiding a costly legal battle for both sides.

"This is the largest claim of its kind in Alberta history," said government spokeswoman Donna Babchishin. "It's a civil claim that's intended to compensate Albertans for the cost of fighting the Chisholm fire." The railway is not admitting guilt or responsibility, but will pay $10 million in cash and $8.6 million over the next decade toward property damage and a long list of fire-prevention projects.

Source: calsun.canoe.ca (http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2006/01/14/1393505-sun.html)

[five_alarm]

EDMONTON, AB - CN Rail says it will plead guilty to charges under the Forest and Prairie Protection Act (http://www.canlii.org/ab/laws/sta/f-19/20051114/whole.html) in connection with one of the most expensive fires in the province's history, while another rail consortium goes on trial in the same case

RaiLink Canada, RaiLink Ltd. and RailAmerica Inc. are accused of running poorly maintained locomotives, which prosecutors say likely sparked the 2001 Chisolm fire, which burned 120,000 hectares of forest, destroyed 10 homes, and cost $30 million to battle. CN faced the same allegation, but announced it planned to plead guilty in return for some of the charges being dropped....

...Last week, CN settled a civil claim relating to the Chisolm fire (http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/05/29/forestfire010529).

Source: cbc.ca (http://www.cbc.ca/edmonton/story/ed-railway-fire20060117.html), canada.com (http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=a08eba38-4a59-4657-a043-d8147bbf424d&k=77413)

[five_alarm]

HINTON, AB - The Hinton Training Centre (http://www.srd.gov.ab.ca/forests/resedu/etc/) is set to receive $10,000 a year over the next 10 years for the teaching of wildfire prevention and suppression courses. The centre is run by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (SRD (http://www3.gov.ab.ca/srd/)) for the training of wildfire fighters from throughout the province. The money is part of a $18.6 million settlement that CN Rail (http://www.cn.ca/) reached with the government of Alberta over the Chisholm Wildfire in 2001.

The province alleged that the fire was started by a faulty train wheel. The fire consumed 120,000 hectares of forest, destroyed 10 homes and cost $30 million to battle. “With CN, we wanted a long-term commitment from them,” explained Darcy Whiteside, with SRD.

The centre offers 45 wildfire training courses (http://www3.gov.ab.ca/srd/forests/resedu/etc/wfmcs.html) and that training can include the instruction of the helitack crews and that of the people that fight wildfires on the ground.

Source: hintonparklander.com (http://www.hintonparklander.com/story.php?id=209822)