Train Derailment In Canada Causes Massive Fire

A freight train carrying flammable goods, including crude oil, derailed and caught fire in New Brunswick, Canada, close to the US border.

The director of public and government affairs for CN rail, Jim Feeny, confirmed that 16 cars on the train derailed:

“There is a fire burning in the area, but we have not confirmed if those cars are actually involved in the fire. The reason we haven’t been able to confirm is because of the fire, and the caution being expressed by first responders. They can’t approach too closely at this point,” he said.

The fire from the train derailment could be seen for quite a distance as it burned brightly. Emergency teams dispatched to the area even had to keep their distance, and a two-kilometer radius around the fire was set up.

Some local residents, who were at home near to the train tracks where the fire was burning in Plaster Rock, spoke to reporters:

“After we left her house, we were driving across the river over to Wapske and that’s where the train derailed. And as we were driving to Wapske, I saw a great big cloud of orange smoke and the flames were really high in the air, the smoke was really high in the air,” said J.D. Saddler.

He continued: “I think probably a lot of people are scrambling right now. We were a little concerned because our place of business is located half a mile from where the [derailment] happened but our place wasn’t affected. There’s about 10 or 12 homes along the road where the train derailed.”

It remains to be seen what led to the train derailment, as investigators and crash scene experts try to establish the cause. Fortunately, nobody was killed or injured as a result of the derailment or the fire which followed.