Cold Lake RCMP officials have arrested and charged persons allegedly responsible for the fire damage to the Beaver River trestle on the Iron Horse Trail.
On June 22, 2012, Cold Lake RCMP and fire crews from Bonnyville and Cold Lake responded to reports of a fire at the bridge. A resulting investigation by the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) concluded the cause of the fire to be arson. The fire had resulted after a vehicle at the bottom of the trestle was set ablaze.
At a press conference on Aug. 22 at the RCMP Hall in Cold Lake, Const. Dan Kehler, member of the general investigations unit at the RCMP in Cold Lake, announced 20-year-old Ardmore resident Matthew Wakaruk and two Cold Lake residents, 18-year-old Devon MacDonald and 22-year-old Clifford Grant-Katcheech, were each charged with one count of arson. The three have since been arrested and released from custody.
Kehler confirmed the vehicle set on fire at the bottom of the trestle belonged to one of the men charged.
“At the media availability we had back in July, we basically said there was a group of people who were present but not involved and part of my presentation was to ask some of those people to come forward and that's what we got,” he said. “We have some eye witnesses that were there and have been talking with police and that's advanced our investigation.”
The damage to the trestle is something that has greatly affected the surrounding communities of Bonnyville and Cold Lake whose residents use the Iron Horse Trail on a regular basis. Kehler said he was pleased the RCMP was able to team up with the public in order to put the investigation to rest.
“We are extremely grateful to the public who gave us tremendous assistance in this investigation. We couldn't have gotten to the point of laying charges without them. It's a great story of the police working with the public.”
While the damage to the trestle is unfortunate, Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland said it's a relief to have those responsible in custody.
“It's a great relief that the individuals have been caught and charged, so it's good for the community,” said Copeland.
“It's unfortunate that a trestle bridge went down but its great police work and also the community getting involved to find the people that did it. All in all it's good that we've got the individuals caught and a great job by the RCMP.”
Kehler said he is unable to speculate on what the accused may be facing as far as fines or sentencing and it is something a judge will have to decide after an appropriate hearing has taken place.
While the investigation into the damaged bridge has received some closure in light of the recent arrests, the solution regarding how to go about repairing the damage to the trestle is still up in the air.
During the press conference held in July, Marianne Price, administrative co-ordinator for Northeast Muni-corr, a non-profit organization that owns and manages the Iron Horse Trail, said she was to receive proposals from four different engineering firms on how to do deal with the damage.
Price said she has since received three of the proposals and hopes to receive the fourth within a week's time.
Price gave a preliminary estimate for costs to repair the bridge of a million dollars during the press conference in July but after collecting the new proposals, Price said the cost for damages will be closer to the two million dollar mark.
“I think I had said at the last meeting that we were at that the preliminary numbers were coming in at a million, I think we can double that based on what I have received so far,” said Price.
Whether or not the trestle is to be repaired to its original state or if a different structure might replace it is not yet known. Price said Northeast Muni-corr is seeking the most “economical way” of repairing the bridge and has asked the engineering firms to examine all possible solutions.
“(We're) taking a look at the most economical way of putting the trestle back in or getting access because it certainly doesn't need to be built big enough that it needs to support a train anymore,” explained Price.
“We asked them to take a look at replacing it for aesthetic and historic purposes using the timbers. We've asked them to source out different options between concrete and wood and a steal structure so those are the options that they're coming back to us with.”
Price said once she has received all four proposals, the 10 municipalities that make up Northeast Muni-corr will come together to make a decision on what firm to go with. She said the decision is still a few months away as the organization is still receiving calls regarding information on available resources to repair the trestle.
Once a decision has been made, Price said the organization will do a walk through with the chosen firm to come up with more specifics and construction of the trestle won't begin for at least a year.
But while it seems a lengthy wait, Price said the organization is already pursuing various funding options. They have opened up a community spirit bank account at the Alberta Treasury Branch for the public to make donations and will have the information on their website (www.ironhorsetrail.ca) within a few days.
Copeland said besides donations from the public, he is not sure who all will be involved in funding the repairs. He said he hopes the federal and provincials governments can team up with the municipalities and industries in the area to ease the burden of the costs but that there is plenty of time to work on a funding model.
“There will be a lot of questions but we've got a lot of time to work on the funding model and I don't think people should jump around. I think we should do our due diligence and make sure that we're going to do it right and we find out all the people who want to step up to the plate and help fund it.”
Right now there is still a long process ahead before the trestle is useable again but Price is aware of the importance of the trestle to the Iron Horse Trail and offered reassurances about it's eventual repair.
“I believe that all the parties involved here are interested in seeing it rebuilt as it is our only access route to Cold Lake for not only in the summer time for ATVs, horseback riding, cyclists and hikers, but in the winter time it's the connector to the Trans-Canadian Snowmobile Trail which comes through Cold
Lake so it's very important for us to get at least some kind of connection back there.”
