An evacuation order following a fiery train derailment in the western Canadian province of Saskatchewan was lifted on Wednesday (October 8). Harold Narfason, the fire chief in the community of Wadena, says the fire is out and everyone from Clair and surrounding farms has been given the all clear to go home.
“There is no risk to the public now.” Officials had been worried about toxic smoke from the burning cars and were keeping people eight kilometres from the scene.
The accident occurred Tuesday morning 20 kilometres west of the town of 1,300, which is about 200 kilometres east of the city of Saskatoon. There were 100 cars in the train, 26 left the tracks. There were no injuries reported.
Six of the cars contained hazardous materials, including four that had either hydrochloric acid or caustic soda. The other two had petroleum distillates, according to Canadian National (CN) which is responsible for the freight train.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has deployed a team of investigators to report on the derailment.
Alison Squires, the publisher of the Wadena News, who went to the fire told the Canadian Press news agency she had never seen anything like it in the 13 years she has lived in the area. “I’ve seen derailments, but this is a pretty bad one.”
“You could see … this huge plume of black smoke. When I got there, there was a small explosion. The smoke is too thick to see what cars are involved.”
More information:
Canadian Press/Global News – Evacuation lifted at train derailment site in Sask. – here
CBC News – Major train derailment and fire near Wadena, Sask. – here
Transportation Safety Board of Canada – Statistics on rail incidents – here
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