(Source: Bangor Daily News, April 10, 2014)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nothing in 33 years of firefighting prepared Tim Pellerin for the inferno before him. The fire chief from Rangeley, Maine, had just arrived in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, last year in the early morning hours of July 6, five hours after a train pulling 72 tankers of light crude oil derailed and exploded, killing 47 people.
Pellerin was among several people who testified to a Senate subcommittee in support of a $40 million appropriation that would be used to prepare fire departments nationwide for oil fires like Lac-Megantic. Those who testified said that while some significant railroad safety gains have occurred, most fire departments could not handle another Lac-Megantic if it occurred today.
Full story: Franklin Sun Journal