Derailed train cars burn in Plaster Rock, N.B., Wednesday, Jan.8, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tom Bateman
January 10, 2014 - 4:58 AM
PLASTER ROCK, N.B. - Officials hope to tackle the fire today that continues to burn on several cars of a train that derailed in New Brunswick, sparking a fire fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas and crude oil on board.
CN (TSX:CNR) spokesman Jim Feeny says crews worked through the night and removed about six box and crude cars to allow firefighters to get closer to the site of the blaze.
He says the fire had changed little since Thursday, but was stable as cars continued to burn since going off the track Tuesday in Wapske (Wob-ski), near Plaster Rock in northwestern New Brunswick.
Some of those crude cars had spilled an unknown amount of their contents, but Feeny said the leak had been contained.
Investigators with the federal Transportation Safety Board have said they found a cracked wheel and broken rail at the scene of the derailment of 19 cars and a locomotive from the 122-car train.
Feeny says the company believes a wheel and axle failure was the cause of the derailment based on its preliminary investigation, but the safety board says it's too early to determine that.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014