A freight train carrying crude oil to Maine derailed and exploded early Saturday outside a small Quebec town near the Maine border, causing widespread destruction and forcing about 1,000 people to flee their homes, authorities said.
While police did not have information about specific casualties, several people were reported missing after the derailment.
Lt. Michel Brunet said it was too soon to determine whether there were any casualties in the town of about 6,000 residents.
“We’re told some people are missing but they may just be out of town or on vacation,” Brunet told a news conference, according to The Associated Press.
Lac-Megantic resident Claude Bedard told AP the scene of the explosions as “dreadful.”
“It’s terrible,” Bedard said. “We’ve never seen anything like it. The Metro store, Dollarama, everything that was there is gone.”
Onlookers said large amounts of oil have spilled into nearby bodies of water, The Associated Press reported.
Several fire departments in Franklin County dispatched trucks and firefighters to help Canadian crews put out the fire, a Franklin County Sheriff’s dispatcher said.
The 73-car train that derailed is owned by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd., based in Hermon, outside Bangor. The company owns more than 500 miles of track serving Maine, Vermont, Quebec and New Brunswick, according to its website.
Quebec Provincial Police Sgt. Gregory Gomez said the derailment happened about 1 a.m. Police still don’t know what caused the train to jump the tracks, he said.
Gomez said there are several homes and stores near where the explosions occurred, along with a bar that was open at the time of the crash.
“We do fear there are going to be casualties,” he said.
Flames and billowing smoke could be seen for several miles hours after the derailment, the AP reported. Some of the train’s cars exploded and the fire spread to a number of homes.
As of 1:30 p.m., firefighters still were trying to extinguish the oil-fueled blaze, Gomez said.
“It’s still burning as we speak,” he said.
Environment Quebec spokesman Christian Blanchette said a large but undetermined amount of fuel also spilled into the Chaudiere River, according to the AP.
“We also have a spill on the lake and the river that is concerning us,” she said. “We have advised the local municipalities downstream to be careful if they take their water from the Chaudiere River.”
Seven municipalities in Franklin County dispatched eight fire trucks carrying about 30 firefighters to the scene starting around 3 a.m., Franklin County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher Stan Wheeler said. Lac-Megantic is about 20 miles from the Franklin County border.
The firefighters are from Chesterville, Eustis, Farmington, New Vineyard, Phillips, Rangeley and Strong, he said.
Franklin County Emergency Management Director Tim Hardy also went to the derailment site, Wheeler said.
A railcar generally can carry between 25,000 and 30,000 gallons of oil. Given its more than 70 cars, the train that derailed had the capacity to be carrying 1.8 million to 2.2 million gallons of oil.
Saturday 6 July 2013
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Fire-erupts-near-Maine-border-after-train-carrying-gas-derails-in-Canada.html
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