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This is a story that appeared in the Vancouver Province newspaper today: Friday, September 05, 2003 Province Newspaper KELOWNA -- Ken Campbell compares his love affair with the Kettle Valley Railway trestles to marriage. "It was love at first sight. It's really a special place," Campbell said yesterday. Considering the blood and sweat the Kelowna resident poured into restoring the internationally recognized heritage structures, it's no wonder his heart broke when he learned that all 18 mainly wooden trestle bridges would likely be destroyed in the Okanagan Mountain fire. "It's a pretty sad day around here," he said. "It's a huge loss, economically, psychologically and emotionally. They're really irreplaceable because each of them is a heritage structure. That's why I'm very, very upset today." On Wednesday night, the wind-fuelled fire spread into Myra Canyon, where the sporadic trestle bridges spanned 10 kilometres of scenic gaps over rivers and valleys. By last night the flames had devoured five of the bridges, despite fire guards dug around the structures and buckets of long-term fire retardant dumped on top of them. Construction of the bridges began in 1914 and took two years to complete. They were part of a Canadian Pacific line linking the ore- and timber-rich Kootenays to the Lower Mainland. "Every one of them is different in design and structure," he said. "It was some of the most difficult railway-building terrain in Canada. It's a very deep canyon and the railways hung on the side of the canyon walls." The rail line ceased service in 1972. In recent years, the bridges' high elevation provided hikers and mountain bikers with an unmatched view of the Okanagan Valley. Campbell moved to Kelowna from Ottawa in 1993. In his early search for a place to hike, he stumbled across the famed trail. That same year, Campbell joined hundreds of volunteers who for three years hammered "millions of nails" while installing rails and boardwalks. After the project was completed, he became president of the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society. "We've been maintaining them ever since," he said. The trestle bridges have since earned international fame as a tourist attraction, and several tour operators rely on the former rail bed.
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