“This is another symptom that we as a society have to respond to in a responsible and proactive way. “It’s a wake-up call for all of us,” said Gordon Lovegrove, board member at the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers and associate professor at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus. That is the opinion of experts and academics who said the July disruptions to rail lines – vital to the flow of Canadian commodities across the country and beyond – will likely happen again if policy makers and society do not address the factors contributing to worsening wildfires in B.C. The catastrophic wildfire that destroyed Lytton is a warning sign of not only climate change but also the negative impact of increasingly severe weather events on a crucial link in Canada’s economy and trade structure: rail transport.
