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Freight train derailment causes huge fire and evacuations in Canada Freight train derailment causes huge fire and evacuations in Canada
(about 3 hours later)
A large swath of a town in eastern Quebec was destroyed on Saturday after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions and forcing the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. A driverless freight train carrying tankers of crude oil derailed at high speed and exploded into a giant fireball in the middle of a small Canadian town early on Saturday, destroying dozens of buildings and killing at least one person.
Several people were reported missing but a Quebec provincial police lieutenant, Michel Brunet, said it was too early to say if there are any casualties in the town of Lac-Mégantic, which is about 155 miles east of Montreal. The disaster occurred shortly after 1am when the 73-car runaway train, sped into Lac-Mégantic, a picturesque lakeside town of about 6,000 people in the province of Quebec near the border with Maine, and came off the rails. Witnesses said the town center was crowded at the time.
The explosions ignited a blaze that sent flames shooting into the sky, and billowing smoke could be seen from several miles away hours after the derailment. Some of the train's 73 cars exploded and the fire spread to a number of homes in the lakeside town of 6,000 people, which is close to the border with Maine and Vermont. Four of the cars were set alight and blew up in a huge fireball that mushroomed hundreds of feet up into the air. Many of the destroyed buildings were totally flattened.
"When you see the center of your town almost destroyed, you'll understand that we're asking ourselves how we are going to get through this event," the town's mayor, Colette Roy-Laroche, told a televised news briefing. The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, tweeted: "Thoughts & prayers are with those impacted in Lac Megantic. Horrible news." A police spokesman, Michel Brunet, told a briefing that at least one person had died. He gave no further details and said he could not say how people many were missing.
The cause of the derailment was not immediately known. The train was transporting crude oil from North Dakota to eastern Canada, likely to New Brunswick – news that is bound to revive questions about the safest way to carry the oil needed to service North America's economies. Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, which operated the train, said it had been parked some distance from the town and no one was on board when it derailed.
Authorities set up perimeters as firefighters battled to control the fire, and worried residents looked on amid fears that some of their friends and loved ones may have died in their homes "We're told some people are missing but they may just be out of town or on vacation," Brunet told a news conference. "We're not sure what happened, but the engineer did everything by the book. He had parked the train and was waiting for his relief … somehow, the train got released," Montreal, Maine & Atlantic's vice president of marketing, Joseph R McGonigle, told Reuters.
Lac-Megantic resident Claude Bédard described the scene of the explosions as "dreadful." "It's terrible," Bédard said. "We've never seen anything like it. The Metro store, Dollarama, everything that was there is gone." Fireman said they were spraying cold water on five unexploded tanker cars they said posed a particular danger. The town's mayor, Colette Roy-Laroche, urged residents to use water sparingly, in order to help the fire services.
Bernard Demers, who owns a local restaurant, had to evacuate his home after the derailment. "Early this morning [there was] a big explosion like an atomic bomb," he said. "It was very hot … everybody was afraid." The rail tracks pass next to a bar popular with young people. An eyewitness, Yvon Rosa, said he had just left the bar when he saw the train speeding into the middle of the town.
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An Environment Quebec spokesman, Christian Blanchette, said a large but undetermined amount of fuel had also spilled into the Chaudière River. Blanchette said the 73 cars were filled with crude oil, and at least four were damaged by the explosions and fire.

"I have never seen a train traveling that quickly into the center of Lac-Mégantic," he told French-language broadcaster Radio-Canada, saying he watched as the train hurtled around a bend. "I saw the wagons come off the tracks … everything exploded. In just one minute the center of the town was covered in fire."
"Right now, there is big smoke in the air, so we have a mobile laboratory here to monitor the quality of the air," Blanchette said. "We also have a spill on the lake and the river that is concerning us. We have advised the local municipalities downstream to be careful if they take their water from the Chaudière River." name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> src="http://www.cbc.ca/video/swf/UberPlayer.swf?state=sharevideo&clipId=2395885527&width=480&height=322" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480"height="322" />

Residents told reporters they had heard five or six large blasts. More than 15 hours after the derailment, one rail car was still burning.

Firefighters and rescue workers from several neighboring municipalities, including Sherbrooke and Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, were called in to help deal with the disaster. Firefighters from northern Maine were also deployed to the Quebec town, according to a spokesman at the sheriff's office in Franklin County. The town is about 135 miles north of the Maine border. "Many parents are worried because they haven't been able to communicate with a member of their family or an acquaintance," Roy-Laroche told Radio-Canada.
The train, which was reportedly heading toward Maine, belongs to Montreal Maine & Atlantic. According to the railroad's website, the company owns more than 500 miles of track serving Maine, Vermont, Quebec and New Brunswick. Last week, a train carrying petroleum products derailed in Calgary, Alberta, when a flood-damaged bridge sagged toward the still-swollen Bow River. The derailed rail cars were removed without spilling their cargo. Police imposed a half-mile security zone around the blast and evacuated about 1,000 people from their homes.
"When you see the center of your town almost destroyed, you'll understand that we're asking ourselves how we are going to get through this event," a tearful Roy-Laroche told a televised news briefing earlier in the day. The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, made an initial statement via Twitter: "Thoughts & prayers are with those impacted in Lac Megantic. Horrible news."
Lac-Mégantic is part of Quebec's Eastern Townships region, an area popular with tourists that is close to the border with Maine and Vermont. Fire officials said they had asked for help from fire services in the United States. Around 20 fire engines were fighting the blaze.
Police said some of the tanker cars had spilled their contents into the river that runs through the town. The Canadian Transportation Safety Board, which probes all accidents, said it was looking for the train's "black box" voice recorder.
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic owns 510 miles of track in Maine and Vermont and in Quebec and New Brunswick. The debate over shipping oil by rail is becoming increasingly topical, as President Barack Obama decides whether to approve TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline from the oil sands of Alberta to the Texas Coast.
Backers of Keystone XL – a project which environmentalists strongly oppose – say transporting oil by pipeline is safer than using rail cars. There have been a number of high-profile derailments of trains carrying petroleum products in Canada recently, including one in Calgary, Alberta, last week, when a flood-damaged bridge sagged toward the still-swollen Bow River. The derailed rail cars were removed without spilling their cargo.
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