SPY HILL, Sask. — Work is underway to extinguish a fire that has been sending up a thick plume of black smoke from the scene of a derailed Canadian National train near the Saskatchewan-Manitoba boundary.
Kevin Franchuk, a CN spokesman, says 36 cars left the tracks on the company’s main line early Saturday morning near the community of Spy Hill, Sask., but no one was injured.
Propane and plastic pellets that were loaded on the cars caught fire, but Franchuk says environmental experts monitoring the site have determined that the smoke does not pose a health hazard.
Six rural families in the area who were ordered from the area as a precaution are being allowed to return home temporarily to take care of any urgent matters, while a safety perimeter remains in place around the accident site.
RCMP say Highway 600, which runs close to the scene of the derailment, remains closed and a no-fly zone will stay in effect until further notice.
CN traffic on the main line is being rerouted and Franchuk says a temporary track is being built around the site to allow for the return of regular scheduled service.