CN Derailment Debriefing

By 250 News

Water bomber drops fire retardant on  blaze during  height of CN derailment  incident ( photo courtesy Dominic Maguire)    

The fire from the burning wreckage of a CN train derailment in Prince George  burned itself out by about 8:00 last night. 

A tanker of 50 thousand gallons of gasoline was venting and igniting as it was being released.  The fire was a result of a collision between two CN trains Saturday  morning.  It is alleged one train was a “runaway” because it had no brakes.  One train side swiped the other on the tracks directly across the Fraser River from Paddle Wheel Park and a major populated area of Prince George.

At a media debriefing   Saturday evening, Prince George Deputy Fire Chief John Lane said the chances of an explosion were  being reduced as the contents of the tanker car were not under pressure so the potential for a massive explosion  diminished as the level of the fuel was reduced.

There was however concern for neighbours, who had been advised to stay out of the area.  An emergency assistance site was set up in the Civic Centre in Prince George,

Residents who didn’t want to  return to their  homes near Paddle Wheel Park, were advised  to go to room 103 at the Civic Centre to register with  officials and get any assistance they may have needed.

On the environmental angle, the Ministry of the Environment’s Ben Van Nostrand says there doesn’t appear to be any significant damage.  “It would seem that if there was a spill of any fuel that it burned before it reached the Fraser River" says Van Nostrand.  “We haven’t been able to spot any sign of a fuel sheen in the back channels, but we will be doing some soil samples when the site has cooled down.”

Van Nostrand says the Ministry has an air quality monitoring station on the east side of the Fraser River to measure for SO2, but there have been no increases noted.

As for  what is in that plume of black smoke that was wafting over the bowl area of Prince George,  Sharlene Lively, the Public Health Protection Manager for Northern Health says  the concern  was over particulates,  “There is only a concern if the wind changes” says Lively and that is what  happened.  No sooner had the briefing wrapped up when officials issued an advisory saying the smoke was wafting over the bowl area and those with respiratory problems should ensure the windows on their homes are closed.

Lively says it could have been a different story “We are lucky, very lucky.”

The environmental impact  would appear to be minimal, the  threat to human life limited to possible injury from flying glass  IF the  tanker erupts,  and the air quality  issues  may  impact those with  respiratory  difficulties.  That lead one  member of the media from the lower mainland who was taking part in the briefing via teleconference to say “So really, there is nothing really going on then.”

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