Freight Train Derailment and Fire in Maine Causes Delays and Disruption

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A freight train carrying several cars and some lumber with electrical wiring derailed early Saturday morning. Three people who were working on the train got hurt but thankfully their injuries weren’t life-threatening. The incident happened around 8:30 am in Sandwich Academy Grant Township, Maine.

The train crashed into a wooded area and sparked a small fire, but firefighters were able to contain it. Three railroad workers were taken to the hospital afterward. It looks like melting ice, rubbish, and other things clogged up the track and caused the accident according to initial investigations by the Forest Service.

The agency said there were some dangerous materials on board the train, but it seemed safe and no risk of exploding or burning. C. Doniele Carlson of Canadian Pacific Kansas City also said that none of the trouble-causing stuff was involved in the fire which happened 15 miles east of Jackman.

Carlson made a statement saying that emergency response teams and hazardous materials experts have gone to the site and checked what is happening. The fire isn’t dangerous and no one has been asked to evacuate.

A nearby rescue department put up an image on Facebook of what happened at the derailment — it showed several off-track cars, smoke coming out of it, and snow all around them. A warning came with the photo reminding everyone to stay away from the area.

Friday marked an announcement that Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern are merging together. This new railway will be the only one in the world that connects Canada, the USA and Mexico.

Recently there have been some bad train wreck accidents with hazardous materials like fire which caused people to evacuate from certain areas in Ohio and Minnesota. So now federal regulators and members of Congress want railroads to be more careful so similar accidents don’t happen again.

Rockwood is a village in Maine with about 300 people. It’s located 90 miles (or 140 kilometers) away from the city of Bangor and close to Moosehead Lake, which is one of the biggest lakes in that state. People often go to this area to fish for salmon and trout in both Moosehead Lake and the river called Moose River.