Irvine Alberta - A train derailment in southern Alberta has forced an evacuation and shut down part of the Trans-Canada Highway for several hours.
 
Between 12 and 15 cars left the tracks near Irvine on Friday afternoon, police said, and some may contain flammable cargo.
 
The derailment involves "chemical exposure" according to Alberta Emergency Alert, which told residents within a seven-kilometre radius to evacuate the area immediately.
 
The train derailed on the west side of Irvine, a community of about 300 people, some 35 kilometres southeast from Medicine Hat, along the north side of Highway 1 in Cypress County, officials said in an alert sent at 16:52 MT.
 
"Cypress County has declared a state of local emergency and is working with stakeholders and partners to assist in the evacuation," the county said in a release Friday evening.
 
RCMP and fire officials are assisting.
 
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) says the derailment happened at about 15:20 MT and they have "dispatched teams to the site."
 
Train and Grass on Fire

"One of the train cars was on fire, and then the grass lit on fire, so they closed the highway," Lethbridge resident Trehia May Stevenson, who drives that stretch of road often, told CBC News.
 
She says she was there shortly after the accident, "before the first responders."
 
"I was about five minutes behind the derailing. There were about 12 cars that derailed, maybe more, and none of them were tankers. It was close to the back end of the train and the rest of the train was still on the track."
 
Quite a Sight
 
Irvine resident Jennifer Radisic was in her backyard with her fiance when they heard the collision.
 
"We got in our car and went and checked it out. It was quite a sight to see," Radisic told CBC News Network.
 
"My biggest concern was the fire, because it was, the wind was literally coming right toward Irvine. Fire crews got there really quickly and doused the flames."
 
On their way back to their house they were stopped and told to leave the area.
 
Radisic says they were allowed to return home to get supplies for her young daughter.
 
She said the Red Cross has been helpful with information, but didn't know about any chemicals on the train.
 
"It just smelled like smoke to me, so I'm not sure what it is exactly. They're not saying, we haven't been told anything. We've just been told that it's hazardous material," she said.
 
How to Evacuate
 
Residents are being told to go to the Cypress County Administration Office in the hamlet of Dunmore, at 816 Second Avenue.
 
Range Road 30 should be used for people who live north of the Trans-Canada.
 
Turn west on Township Road 124 and head to Highway 41 to access Highway 1 into Dunmore.
 
People who live south of Highway 1 are asked to use "Township Road 114A to gain access to Highway 41, or are asked to use the Bull Trail and turn west onto Township Road 110A to access to Range Road 32 to head south to Township Road 110 and then turn and head west along Township Road 110 to the Eagle Butte Road to provide access to the hamlet of Dunmore," the agency said.
 
David Bell.