Train derails in Maine injuring three workers and setting trees ablaze
Residents warned to ‘stay clear’ after freight train carrying hazardous materials derails in Maine – in THIRD crash this week
- Several cars on a freight train derailed and caught fire on Saturday in rural Maine leaving three workers were hurt,
- Maine Forest Service said in a statement that three locomotive engines and six cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring went off the track at about 8:30am
- They derailed into a wooded area and started a small forest fire, which emergency responders contained and were monitoring
By James Gordon For Dailymail.com[1]
Published: 07:05, 16 April 2023 | Updated: 07:19, 16 April 2023
A Canadian Pacific freight train derailed and caught fire in Maine[2] on Saturday, causing minor injuries to three rail employees.
‘A total of three locomotive engines and six rail cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring derailed into a wooded area, where they caught fire and started a small forest fire,’ Maine’s Forest Department said in a statement.
Additional rail cars transporting hazardous materials did not derail, it said, adding that these hazardous materials are ‘not at risk’ of leaking and catching fire.
The derailment happened when the train encountered a ‘track washout,’ Canadian Pacific said in a statement. The washout may have been caused by a build-up of melting ice and debris.
Earlier in the day, Rockwood Fire and Rescue posted a photo of the derailment on its Facebook page asking residents to ‘stay clear.’ It’s the third such incident this week, following derailments in Pittsburgh and Alabama.
A view of a train following derailment and fire near Rockwood, Maine
Three locomotive engines and six cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring went off the track at about 8:30am
C. Doniele Carlson, the director of communications for Canadian Pacific Kansas City, also confirmed the derailment about 15 miles east of Jackman and said the hazardous elements of the train’s cargo were not involved in the fire.
‘Our emergency response teams and hazardous materials experts have responded and continue to conduct a full assessment of the situation,’ Carlson said in a statement. ‘There are no evacuations and no threat to public safety.’
The fire and rescue department in nearby Rockwood posted a photo of the derailment on its Facebook page and advised residents to stay away from the area.
The image showed multiple derailed cars and a small fire, with black smoke wafting across snowy forestland.
A merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern was announced Friday. The rail line bills itself as the first and only single-line railway connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
The derailment occurred in Rockwood, Maine, a village in Somerset County that borders Moosehead Lake
The train carrying potentially hazardous materials derailed near Rockwood, a village in Somerset County that borders Moosehead Lake, Maine
The crash on Saturday was the most recent derailment to have taken place across the U.S.
The derailment is the latest one to hit the rail industry. Federal regulators and members of Congress are urging railroads to do more to prevent derailments after recent fiery wrecks involving hazardous chemicals in Ohio and Minnesota prompted evacuations.
Rockwood, about 90 miles northwest of Bangor, is a village in Somerset County with about 300 residents.
Located on the western side of Moosehead Lake, one of the state’s largest freshwater bodies, it’s a destination for salmon and trout fishing on both the lake and the Moose River.
Earlier this week in Jasper, Alabama, 11 cars on a North Atlantic Southern train derailed.
Two crew members were transported to a nearby hospital after the crash, but have since been released.
‘According to Norfolk Southern, the train crew was briefly trapped in the engine room because the engine tilted over. There were no major injuries, but RPS was called to the scene to evaluate the crew and transported two crew members as a precaution,’ Jasper Police wrote in a statement.
‘Jasper Fire called all personnel in to assist the crew in getting out of the train and managing the scene, along with Jasper Police. Norfolk Southern and Walker County EMA are remaining on the scene to return the track to service,’ the statement continued.
It came just hours after five Norfolk Southern Trains were derailed in Pittsburgh, causing no hazards or injuries, according to authorities.
Five empty train cars veered off the tracks near Telford and West Carson Streets in the city’s Esplen neighborhood, the Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety said.
City officials temporarily closed parts of West Carson Street as crews moved equipment through the area to remove the derailed cars.
It was unclear what caused that derailment.
The crash on Saturday was the most recent derailment to have taken place across the U.S, following a Norfolk Southern derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, in February
The toxic train derailed in a fiery crash on February 3, leading authorities to evacuate the surrounding East Palestine, Ohio area.
A giant plume of smoke can be seen during the aftermath of the incident which could be seen from miles away
The crash on Saturday was the most recent derailment to have taken place across the U.S, following a Norfolk Southern derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, in February.
It resulted in the evacuation of residents after the trains spilled hazardous materials.
Norfolk Southern has faced mounting criticism over safety since the major derailment.
The state of Ohio also subsequently sued the railroad company over the freight train derailment under charges that it exposed East Palestine to huge levels of toxic material.
The lawsuit demanded the company pay for the full cleanup of the accident and for any environmental damage it caused.
It also seeks to force the company to pay for groundwater and soil monitoring in the years to come, along with compensation for economic losses in East Palestine and surrounding areas.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw apologized before Congress in early March for the impact the derailment had on the village and its surrounding communities, but he didn’t make specific commitments to pay for long-term health and economic harm.
The company pledged more than £20million in aid to East Palestine.
References
- ^ James Gordon For Dailymail.com (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Maine (www.dailymail.co.uk)