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Rail cars catch fire in Sask. train derailment

By: Canwest News Service

5/12/2009 1:35 PM | Comments: 3

TIM SMITH / BRANDON SUN Enlarge Image

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.

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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3 Comments

Posted by: Gord R

December 6, 2009 at 1:05 PM

This problem's roots go back over 40 years. My father, who oversaw track maintenance on a large CN Rail territory, took early retirement in 1969 because cutbacks left him with insufficient resources to maintain tracks to safety standards his conscience was comfortable with. His colleagues in rolling stock maintenance reported similar declines in resources they needed to keep equipment in top condition. CN's days as a crown corporation are long gone and it's bottom-line-driven private enterprise based in Knoxville, Tennessee making critical decisions these days. Not surprisingly, government oversight is limited by budget restrictions.

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Posted by: Yamahammer

December 6, 2009 at 12:06 AM

The incoming Canadian CEO of CN will be facing a huge infrastructure deficit left behind by the former American CEO Ewing Hunter Harrison. Lots of money went south to the U.S. in dividend payments during his tenure and correspondingly maintenance of the physical plant went south (pun intended). The mantra originating from top down at CN became one of its cheaper to pay outside contractors to clean up a wreck than it was to properly maintain track and equipment and avoid the wreck. Shortsighted at best and not a good legacy to leave behind.

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Posted by: LoneWolf_69

December 5, 2009 at 3:24 PM

That's what happens when they lay-off / retire / buy-out railway repair / inspection people and / or don't hire / train new ones who are qualified.

The government is really, really, really ignorant allowing railways run the trains longer distances without inspection.

One day there is going to be another Mississauga but only worse.

No huge lawsuits when derailments happen in Canada because of the "stupid" government which allows this.

But watch when there is another Canadian Train derailed in the U.S. of A. like a few years ago. The railways here will be asking the Feds for bail-out money because they could be forced into bankruptcy.