25 September 2010

Derailment Creates 50-Foot Wall of Steel

A CP locomotive sits off the track amid wrecked railcars at the site where a train with 11 railcars went off the track in St. Lazare, Quebec.

St. Lazare Quebec - Cleanup crews were expected to work straight through last night to clear hazardous material and a mountain of twisted freight cars from train tracks near St. Lazare following a derailment Thursday night.
 
A Canadian Pacific freight train travelling from Montreal to Toronto derailed without warning just before midnight, injuring two crew members and producing a massive pileup that one official described as "a 50-foot wall of steel."
 
 

Another view of the wrecked railcars at the site in St. Lazare, Quebec.
 
 
Officials would not confirm reports that a landslide had caused the accident, but the train's conductor reported seeing trees falling onto the tracks right before the derailment about 45 kilometres west of Montreal.
 
He and another CP crew member were trapped beneath the wreckage of the train, and had to be cut out using the Jaws of Life. They suffered minor injuries and have since been released from hospital.
 
According to St. Lazare Fire Chief Daniel Boyer, firefighters had a difficult time reaching the two men, because it was pitch dark when rescuers arrived and the locomotives had been partially buried under a "huge" mound of earth and 11 freight wagons.
 
"We actually had to cut down several trees nearby to get at these guys," Boyer explained. "You could see the locomotives had plowed under the earth and made a large ditch. It was quite the sight."
 
Boyer, who was one of the first people on the scene on Thursday night, said the fire department planned to remain at the site until this morning to monitor the work of a CP hazardous-materials crew, which was working to clear out medical supplies, fertilizer, and other potential hazards contained in several of the freight cars.
 
"We'll have one fire crew up here (by the command post), and another down there at the accident site," Boyer said. "Just in case anyone falls, or something else happens."
 
Officials established early on that there were no flammable liquids or toxic gases in the affected freight cars. The hazardous materials did not spill onto the tracks and there was never any danger to the public, according to CP spokesperson Breanne Feigel.
 
"These are all consumer products, stuff you'd find on store shelves, and some medical supplies," Feigel said.
 
Officials with Environment Quebec, Environment Canada, the Surete du Quebec, and CP were all on the scene late yesterday to help with the cleanup effort.
 
By 5 p.m., a steady stream of dump trucks and other vehicles had begun passing through a security perimeter set up by the SQ earlier in the day. They were working to build a roadway through the woods to the accident site, according to Boyer.
 
"Up until now, we have had to use the train tracks to get there," he said. "But the haz-mat crew has some bigger vehicles, and they need to access the site."
 
Boyer estimated that the removal of the hazardous materials, which must be done by hand, could take up to 36 hours.
 
About 150 homes are located near the tracks, and police were carefully monitoring traffic in and out of the area, allowing only local residents to pass in and out.
 
SQ Sgt. Claude Denis said there was no need for evacuation, and people in the quiet community of around 18,000 have been respecting requests to steer clear of the derailment.
 
CP's freight trains are continuing to move through the area along alternate routes, Feigel said, and passenger traffic has not been affected.
 
Monique Muise.