TORONTO — A toxic blaze of chemical-filled rail cars was finally contained on Saturday after burning for almost two days, and the last 100 residents were allowed to return to their homes in rural southwestern Manitoba after experts deemed the air and ground water environmentally safe, reports a wire service.
Harlan Mushumanski, of the Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization, said water bombers and ground crews had brought the massive fire under control, although there were still “a few hot spots left.”
Firefighters would stay on duty overnight, dousing the remaining flames and preventing any flare-ups, he said.
The fire began late Thursday when a 70-car train carrying hazardous materials collided with a truck at an unprotected crossing in a farming area near the hamlet of Firdale, 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Winnipeg.
The cargo included benzene, hexane and plastic pellets and experts had feared the toxic smoke released from the fire could cause environmental and health damage.
“Air monitoring has not detected any unsafe levels,” said Mushumanski. “We do not anticipate any environmental impact on the soil or water, but we will continue to monitor the levels throughout the clean up.”
At the peak of the emergency a column of thick black smoke drifted over the scene of the burning rail cars and some 170 people were asked to leave their homes. Firefighters initially stayed well away from the site, for fear of the health risks involved from breathing the deadly chemical cocktail.
The water bombers used to control the blaze are more often used to quell forest fires in wilderness areas across Canada. They can drop thousands of liters of water on fires which cannot be reached easily by truck.