(The Canadian Press circulated the following on July 3.)
VANCOUVER — Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX:CP) removed one of four rail cars loaded with chemicals from a four-car derailment Wednesday, though two others remained partially submerged in the Thompson River.
The freight train cars jumped the tracks near Lytton, B.C., after being hit by a rock slide just north of the tiny Fraser Canyon community on Tuesday evening.
A clean-up crew has removed a rail car that remained upright on the track and are working on another that is on the river embankment below the track, CPR spokesman Mike LoVecchio said Wednesday evening.
“They have stabilized it, and their next step is to drain the glycol out of that car and into portable storage units,” he said.
The two submerged cars were also carrying glycol, a substance used in antifreeze, but LoVecchio said both are double-lined tankers. Divers have inspected the two cars and didn’t spot any breaches or leaks, he said.
CPR plans to monitor water downstream of the site throughout the clean-up, he said. It also planned a community meeting Wednesday evening.
“We continue to be in touch with the Village of Lytton and the Lytton First Nation and will work with them going forward,” said LoVecchio.
“There is no estimate at this time for recovery, nor for the line reopening,” he said.
Not far from the derailment site, firefighters were battling a blaze that shut down the Trans-Canada Highway over the weekend.
About 20 kilometres south of Lytton, 100 firefighters bolstered by heavy equipment fought the 120-hectare fire.
Elise Riedlinger, an information officer based in Kamloops, said officials used global positioning system equipment to get a more accurate measure of the size of the fire, which officials pegged Tuesday at 55 hectares.
“It has grown somewhat but not that drastically,” said Riedlinger.
Two 20-person crews joined 60 firefighters already battling the blaze and another helicopter was added, bringing the total to four.
Two air tankers were set to join the battle, she said.
The fire has closed the Trans-Canada through the Fraser Canyon, leaving motorists to use Highway 5, the Coquihalla, through the central Interior.
“There is still the risk of falling debris which is why Highway One is still closed,” Riedlinger said.
Throughout the province, as many as 150 new forest fires were burning Wednesday after a series of lightning storms swept over the southern and central Interior.
Most of the fires are small, but provincial fire information officer Kim Steinbart said a few of the fires were being targeted with an initial attack crew of three people.
Fire assessment teams take into consideration where the fire starts, how close it is to homes or property and the manpower they have when they prioritize fire resources.
A 20-person crew was fighting a four-hectare fire along Gillard Creek in South Okanagan Mountain Park that was caused by lightning.