'Really frustrated with CN': St. Thomas councillor blasts railway after massive railroad tie fire

Coun. Steve Peters didn’t hold back during Tuesday’s St. Thomas city council meeting.

Sitting in the mayor’s chair with Joe Preston away, Peters ripped the Canadian National Railway (CNR) after a massive railroad tie fire on Oct. 10.

“I'm really frustrated with CN and the risk that they're putting our firefighters,” Peters told 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 called on fellow councillors to direct staff to “give marching orders to proceed and deal with CN to get this site cleaned up.”

Peters also called on St. Thomas Fire Chief Dave Gregory to explain how his team handled that day.

Firefighters battle a railroad tie fire in St. Thomas, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024 (Source: St. Thomas Fire Department)

“That event took 53 of our employees over four hours to extinguish,” Gregory told 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 could be seen across the city, and firefighters had to ask nearby residents to go inside. Those residents included Peters, who lives less than a kilometre way from the blaze on St. Catharine St.

Peters said he couldn’t sit on his back deck and referred to the smell as “putrid.”

“This is at least the third railway tie fire this year that we've had to deal with,” said 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 City Councillor Steve Peters expressed frustration with the Canadian National Railway during a council meeting on Oct. 15, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

Gregory estimates this fire will cost around $30,000 in wages and supplies. He wants this rail yard site cleaned up.

“These fires take us away from covering the citizens of St. Thomas,” said 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 fire prevention officers are investigating this fire as an arson.

Peters said St. Thomas is not alone when it comes to fires of this nature. He referenced a fire last week in Chatham-Kent and another in Wisconsin.

St. Thomas Fire Chief Dave Gregory explained to city council on Oct. 15, 2024, that a railroad tie fire on Canadian National Railway cost more than $30,000 to extinguish. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

“This has to stop, and we need CN immediately to move forward to get these ties gone,” said Peters.

CTV has reached out to CNR for reaction to Peters and Gregory’s comments. They did provide anyone to answer our questions but did provide a statement 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.”