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Rail cars catch fire in Sask. train derailment

Several families were evacuated from their homes Saturday after a freight train carrying propane tanks derailed, sparking a large fire that sent plumes of greyish-black smoke high into the sky.

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Several families were evacuated from their homes Saturday after a freight train carrying propane tanks derailed, sparking a large fire that sent plumes of greyish-black smoke high into the sky. (TIM SMITH / BRANDON SUN)

SPY HILL, Sask. — Several families were evacuated from their homes Saturday near the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border after a freight train carrying propane tanks derailed, sparking a large fire that sent plumes of greyish-black smoke high into the sky, said a local municipal leader.

Reeve Bernard Mikolas of the Spy Hill Rural Municipality in Saskatchewan said at least five families had been forced from their homes after about 17 cars derailed around 7 a.m. local time.

No injuries have been reported, said CN spokeswoman Kelli Svendsen.

Mikolas said he could see the smoke from the municipal office six kilometres away. Mikolas said he did not know the number of propane tanks that had been carried by the train.

Mikolas said RCMP and municipal officials were on the scene, blocking off roads as fire departments from Spy Hill and Esterhazy, Sask., battled the flames.

Svendsen could not comment  on how the derailment, which took place on a single rail line, could affect rail traffic in the area.

RCMP in Regina confirmed they received a call around 7 a.m. that a train had derailed near Spy Hill, which is about 13 kilometres from the Manitoba border, west of Russell, Man.

 

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