Guernsey Saskatchewan - An evacuation was taking place in the Saskatchewan community of Guernsey, following the second train derailment in the area in less than two months.
 
According to Reeve Jack Gibney in a brief interview, a fire was within less than 500 metres of the hamlet following the derailment Thursday morning.
 
Gibney, the reeve of the RM of Usborne (which includes the Hamlet of Guernsey), said he had "no reaction yet" to the second derailment since December.
 
Gibney said he was in the village office immediately following Thursday's derailment.
 
The reeve said repairs on the rail line had been done weeks prior to December's incident, which he said has left him puzzled over derailments "happening left and right."
 
Gibney on Thursday said those in the community, around 85 people, were using the town hall as a meeting and gathering place.
 
Marlo Pritchard, the president of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, told reporters that a train carrying 104 cars on a track owned by Canadian Pacific (CP) derailed around 06:15, Thursday, on Highway 16 near Guernsey.
 
Thirty-one cars derailed and 12 were still on fire around 13:30.
 
There were no reports of injuries or fatalities.
 
The derailment was roughly 10 kilometres from where a train carrying crude derailed and lit on fire along Highway 16 between the communities of Guernsey and Plunkett, approximately 20 kilometres west of Lanigan on 9 Dec 2019.
 
In that incident, 33 oil tank cars and one hopper car left the tracks and 1.5 million litres of oil leaked.
 
Pritchard said it was "way too early" to determine a cause of Thursday's derailment and would not commit to taking action to stop trains from using that section of CP line.
 
"It is a concern that two derailments happened in that vicinity, absolutely, but we'll have to wait for the investigation and comment at that time," he said.
 
"We will work with CP as well as our communities to ensure that public safety is ensured."
 
He said the local evacuation was ordered because of concerns around air quality.
 
He said he did not know how long it would be in place.
 
"If the smoke situation changes, I'm sure the residents will be allowed to go home," he said.
 
Logan Fisher, a resident of Guernsey, said in an interview that it is "unsettling" to have two derailments in such a short time period.
 
"Good thing it wasn't in Guernsey, but obviously this time it's a little closer," he said, adding that it "would have been pretty devastating" if the derailment took place in the community.
 
Patty Prentice was driving to work just after the derailment and, in the pre-dawn darkness, initially thought she was coming across a small fire.
 
"The flames just got bigger and bigger and I could feel the heat when I drove by," Prentice said.
 
Prentice said she called relatives who also live in the area and heard they were told to get out.
 
"They knocked on doors, told them, to meet at the community centre if they wanted to know more information," she said.
 
One local resident briefly stopped his truck outside the community to look at a burning train.
 
"They need a pipeline," he said.
 
CP said in a statement that it is making its "initial assessments" following Thursday's derailment.
 
Emergency responders were on scene after a CP freight train derailed east of Guernsey around 06:15.
 
Videos posted and shared on social media captured massive flames from Thursday's derailment.
 
One video taken by a passing motorist shows intense fire around at least 24 derailed cars.
 
Before the sun rose, flames and dark smoke from the derailment provided a stark contrast to the pitch-black sky.
 
As the sky lightened through the morning, thick black smoke was visible from kilometres away.
 
By mid-morning, dozens of cars remained on the tracks, both east and west of the derailment.

Tom Lukiwski, the Conservative Party MP for the area, said he was "very surprised, almost shocked" to learn of the derailment.
 
He said he immediately reached out to the federal minister of transport to request a full investigation, and asked that the results be made public.
 
"Perhaps this is a coincidence, perhaps it's something larger than that," Lukiwski said in an interview.
 
"To have a fairly major derailment like this occur at almost the same location as a previous derailment less than two months ago, that's odd to say the very least, and that's why I'd like the minister of transport to give me. and frankly all Canadians, particularly those living around Humboldt and Guernsey, some assurances that the minister's office will be doing a thorough investigation and try to get some answers and share those answers and share that information with the people affected."
 
Minister of Transport Marc Garneau said in a brief tweet that he is "following this very closely" and that the ministry is "gathering the facts."
 
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it is deploying a team of investigators to the site.
 
"The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence," the agency said in a statement.
 
CP said it "will have further comment when available."
 
Nutrien, which operates its Lanigan mine near the location of the derailment, is aware of the incident, a company spokesman said.
 
There was no immediate impact on operations, the spokesman said.
 
RCMP quickly advised the public to find alternate routes, as traffic on Highway 16 was closed in both directions.
 
The junction with Highway 20 was also set to be closed until further notice.
 
Dave Deibert.