Seventeen cars and one locomotive in a 122-car CN train carrying propane and crude oil derailed and caught fire on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 near the town of Plaster Rock in northwest New Brunswick, Canada. There were no injuries, but about 50 nearby homes were evacuated when the train derailed at approximately 7:00 p.m. EST.
The train originated in Toronto and was headed to an Irving Oil refinery in Moncton, N.B., which is about 185 miles east of the site of the accident, according to Jim Feeny, director of public and government affairs at CN. Among the 17 cars and one unmanned locomotive that derailed were four loads of propane and four loads of crude oil, he said. Unkown at this time is what type of crude oil the train was carrying, though it did originate in western Canada. A fireball was reported but has not been confirmed, and it is unknown at this time whether the fire was oil- or propane-related.
Feeny said that CN crews plan to conduct an aerial surveillance of the site to determine the source and scope of the fire. He said more information about the blaze is required before crews can go in and start cleaning up the site.
Fire officials said the cars appear to have been mostly empty, except for some propane residue. “They’ll in all probability burn themselves out by morning,” said Sharon DeWitt, emergency measures coordinator for Plaster Rock, soon after the accident. She said there was no danger to residents as the wind was blowing away from Plaster Rock, a village of about 1,000 in a mainly wooded area about 30 miles from the U.S. border and Maine.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said the derailment was caused by an “undesired brake application.”
Last November, Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt issued a directive that requires railroads to provide annual information to municipalities on the volume and nature of hazmat materials being transported through their jurisdictions. The move came in response to the derailment and explosion in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec on July 6, 2013,which killed 47 people.
In a similar move last August applying to U.S. operations, the Federal Railroad Administration issued an emergency order “to help prevent trains operating on main line tracks or sidings from moving unintentionally,” specifically, those hauling certain types of hazardous materials, such as crude oil and ethanol.
CN President and CEO Claude Mongeau went to the scene of the accident and, accompanied by New Brunswick Premier David Nathan Alward, conducted a news conference.