Freight train derails in Maine injuring three workers and setting trees ablaze

A Canadian Pacific freight train derailed and caught fire in Maine on Saturday, slightly injuring three railroad employees.

“A total of three locomotive engines and six railroad cars carrying wood and electrical wiring derailed in a wooded area, where they caught fire and started a small wildfire,” the Maine Forest Department said in a statement.

Additional train cars carrying hazardous materials did not derail, it said, adding that these hazardous materials are “at no risk” of leaking and catching fire.

The derailment happened when the train encountered a track washout, Canadian Pacific said in a statement. The leaching may have been caused by a buildup of melting ice and debris.

Earlier in the day, Rockwood Fire and Rescue posted a photo of the derailment on its Facebook page and asked residents to “stay clear.” It is the third incident this week, after derailments in Pittsburgh and Alabama.

Three locomotive engines and six cars with wood and electrical wiring went off the track at about 8:30 a.m.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City communications director C. Doniele Carlson also confirmed the derailment about 15 miles east of Jackman and said the dangerous elements of the train’s cargo were not involved in the blaze.

“Our emergency response teams and hazardous materials experts have responded and are continuing to fully assess the situation,” Carlson said in a statement. “There are no evacuations and no threat to public safety.”

The Fire and Rescue Service 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 several derailed cars and a small fire, with black smoke billowing over snowy woodland.

A merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern was announced on Friday. The railway bills itself as the first and only single-line rail line connecting Canada, the US and Mexico.

The derailment occurred in Rockwood, Maine, a Somerset County village bordering Moosehead Lake

The train carrying potentially hazardous materials derailed near Rockwood, a Somerset County village bordering Moosehead Lake, Maine

Saturday’s crash was the most recent derailment in the US

The derailment is the latest to affect 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.

About 90 miles northwest of Bangor, Rockwood is a village in Somerset County with a population of about 300. Located on the western side of Moosehead Lake, one of the state’s largest freshwater bodies, it is 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 taken to a nearby hospital after the crash, but have since been released.

“According to Norfolk Southern, the train crew was momentarily trapped in the engine room because the engine overturned. There were no major injuries, but the RPS was called to the scene to evaluate the crew and transported two crew members as a precaution,” Jasper police said in a statement.

Jasper Fire enlisted all staff to assist the crew in exiting the train and settling down the scene, along with Jasper Police. Norfolk Southern and Walker County EMA remain on site to return the track to service,” the statement continued.

It happened just hours after five Norfolk Southern trains derailed in Pittsburgh, with no hazards or injuries, according to authorities.

Five empty train cars went off the rails near Telford and West Carson Streets in the city’s Esplen neighborhood, the Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety said.

City officials temporarily closed off portions of West Carson Street while crews moved equipment around the area to remove the derailed cars.

It is not clear what caused the derailment.

Saturday’s crash was the most recent derailment in the US, following a Norfolk Southern derailment disaster in eastern Palestine, Ohio, in February.

The toxic train derailed in a fiery crash on Feb. 3, forcing authorities to evacuate the surrounding area of ​​eastern Palestine, Ohio. During the aftermath of the incident, a giant plume of smoke could be seen from miles away

Saturday’s crash was the most recent derailment in the US, following a Norfolk Southern derailment disaster in eastern Palestine, Ohio, in February.

It resulted in the evacuation of residents after the trains spilled hazardous materials.

Norfolk Southern has faced increasing safety criticism since the major derailment.

The state of Ohio also subsequently sued the railroad over the freight train derailment on charges that it had exposed eastern Palestine to massive amounts of toxic material.

The lawsuit demanded that the company pay for the full clean-up of the accident and for any environmental damage it caused.

It is also trying to force the company to pay for groundwater and soil monitoring in the coming years, along with compensation for economic losses in eastern Palestine and surrounding areas.

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw apologized to Congress in early March for the impact the derailment had on the village and surrounding communities, but made no specific commitments to pay for long-term health and economic damage.

The company pledged more than $20 million in aid to eastern Palestine.