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A British Columbia Supreme Court judge says a class-action lawsuit against Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways can move ahead after a catastrophic fire in June 2021 burned most of the community of Lytton, B.C.
The ruling released Tuesday from Justice Ward Branch says there’s “some basis in fact” to support the plaintiffs’ allegations that the “horrific fire” was caused by railway operations, where CN and CP have parallel tracks that run through the town.
It says several lawsuits were filed after the fire, including by individuals and First Nations, and a “competing” class-action was denied certification in 2023.
The representative plaintiff in the certified action is Carel Moiseiwitsch, whose home in Lytton was destroyed by the fire, along with the assets of her and her husband’s home-based information technology and design business.
The judge’s decision says the woman alleges she was displaced by the fire and claims to have “lasting trauma” from having to escape and losing her home, her cat and “her way of life.”
Another representative plaintiff, Jordan Spinks, is a member of the Kanaka Bar Indian Band who was displaced by the fire for “several months,” and says he lost his job and the fire took a toll on his mental health.
The class is for those who suffered losses in the fire, and subclasses for family members of people who died as a result of the fire, and those who lost property that wasn’t covered by insurance.
Two people were killed in the fire and most of the town was wiped out during a heat dome where the temperature reached a Canadian record of 49.6 C in Lytton the day before the fire.
