(Canwest News Service circulated the following story by Natalie Alcoba on June 7, 2009.)
OSHAWA, Ont. — A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying hydrogen peroxide derailed in a central neighbourhood here Friday afternoon, pushing cars into nearby backyards and a schoolyard during recess.
Houses that back onto the tracks have been evacuated, and residents are either staying with relatives or in hotels for the night, said CPR spokesman Mike LoVecchio late Friday night.
A handful of people were on the train, but there were no reported injuries. Police said there was significant damage to properties along the line.
The neighbourhood, just north of the busy Highway 401, remained evacuated Friday evening. The Park Road bridge, under which the derailment occurred, was shut down.
Two locomotives and 27 cars of the 111-car train derailed around 2:15 p.m. local time Friday, LoVecchio said.
LoVecchio said CPR crews would be conducting a risk assessment into the night, but didn’t know when the track would reopen.
“There’s a lot of sharp metal . . . a large number of hazards on the ground . . . power wires in the area,” he said.
Two of the cars contained “regulated commodities” that require specific handling – a situation CP Rail has dealt with in the past, LoVecchio said Friday evening, adding the train was carrying a mixed freight, including paper.
One of the derailed cars contains hydrogen peroxide, a household disinfectant, which, in high concentrations, can be hazardous. That car remained upright and was not leaking, LoVecchio said.
Oshawa fire Chief Steve Merringer said that particular car “is sitting with two cars on top of it,” causing some concern.
LoVecchio said he could not comment on any danger posed by the derailed car carrying the chemical compound. The second car, containing a regulated substance, remained on the track, he said.
“Our priority at the moment is to ensure the safety of our employees and the surrounding community,” he said, “We will then mitigate any environmental damage, and then focus on the investigation.”
Skyler Sanders, age nine, said he was playing with his friends outside St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School at recess when the locomotive came screeching to a halt.
“I heard like, it crashed onto the grass. I know there was a lot of smoke, ” said Skyler, who was promptly brought indoors by teachers.
“In my class, they were saying a train is on fire, a train is on fire.”
One woman whose home backs onto the train tracks was gardening in her backyard when she heard sounds of the derailment.
“Have you ever heard a train on a track grinding? That’s what it sounded like,” said Cindy, who didn’t want her last name used. “Then there was a weird pop and bang sound.”
She said she knew instantly what had happened, although she could not see because a fence obscured her view. She said minutes later, police came around advising her to leave her home, but she opted not to because her father was ill.
Oshawa Coun. Robert Lutczyk, standing 30 metres away from two still-standing locomotives, said there appeared to be no imminent safety threat.
“There’s no fire, no smoke, the locomotives just look like they’re parked there.”
Lutczyk said he fears the derailment may be linked to vandalism. A nearby bridge where railway switching equipment is located is notorious as a hangout for young people, he said.
“I get calls from residents saying kids are in there and they’re wrecking things. And I’ve passed their concerns on. I’ve called CP Rail Police to come here. The CP (Rail) Police have told me . . . they’ve got thousands of lines of track and only a few people.”
“I’m not surprised this has happened. Vandals are getting in there and messing with the switching equipment.”
“The haz-mat team “built a dike around the one car that causes a concern, and they are assessing it right now, and trying to determine how to break the train apart without causing leakage,” Oshawa Mayor John Gray said Friday evening.
LoVecchio said that once CP Rail is given the all-clear by the incident team, the company will begin its assessment of the cars and begin the off-load process.
Sgt. Nancy Van Rooy said Durham police are investigating the cause of the derailment. “There is talk that some of the derailed cars may have hit the overpass,” she said, adding investigators haven’t been able to verify whether the bridge is damaged.
“It is potentially a criminal investigation, but we haven’t determined any criminal wrongdoing,” she said.
Van Rooy also said the evacuation was voluntary, and people were allowed to return home to collect important items, but police were urging residents to stay out of the area for the time being.
LoVecchio would not say when the rail line would be reopened.
“We always take the time necessary to develop appropriate plans to recover the product in a safe manner, conduct the cleanup and the investigation. There is no timeline here,” he said.