Minnesota State Wire

The Canadian National Railway paid $1.25 million in settlement funds to the U.S. Forest Service for a wildfire's damage to a national forest in Minnesota in 2016, federal prosecutors reported.

The Skibo Fire in 2016 destroyed about 1,000 acres of land east of the Hoyt Lakes in St. Louis County, Minnesota, according to AP News. Of those 1,000 acres, about 400 were in Superior National Forest.

The fire was allegedly started by a railroad locomotive with mechanical failure from the Canadian National Railway, the U.S. federal government said, according to AP News. The federal government said in the press release that the fire cost over $1.5 million to put out and many people had to be evacuated as well.

“This settlement goes a long way toward compensating the public for the expense of fighting the fire and the damage to public lands,” U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald said in a statement on April 28.