A freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire Saturday morning near Rockwood, Maine, officials said. However, none of the hazardous materials aboard caught fire, according to railroad officials and state authorities.
A spokesperson for Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC) told CBS News in a statement that the train derailed at about 8:30 a.m. Eastern time due to a "track washout" in a rural wooded area about 15 miles east of the town of Jackman. A "track washout" often happens after heavy rain and washes away ballast and roadway under the track.
The fire department later posted a photo of the derailment, showing a fire breaking out on multiple cars of the train.
But a spokesperson for Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited told CBS News that no evacuations were ordered and no threat to public safety existed. They said a fire started on three locomotives and train cars that were carrying lumber, but the cars carrying the hazardous materials were not affected.
ROCKWOOD FIRE & RESCUE
The spokesperson told the outlet that the derailment happened at around 8:30 a.m. because of a “track washout,” which happens after heavy rain washes away the roadway under the train track. They said it happened in a rural wooded area.
The Hill has reached out to the fire department and the train company for additional comment.
Officials at the scene assessed the derailment and said the "hazardous materials are not at risk of leaking and are not at risk of catching fire," Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry spokesperson Jim Britt said in a statement.
Three railroad employees suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the derailment and are being treated at a nearby hospital, Britt added.
The derailment happened around 8:30 a.m. ET when the train came across a track washout in a rural wooded area, the rail network's spokesperson C. Doniele Carlson said in a statement.
It wasn't immediately clear which freight train carrier was operating the train Saturday.
"An early assessment indicates that the derailment may have been caused by a build-up of melting ice and debris that washed out part of the railroad track," according to the Maine Forest Service.
The three locomotive engines and six rail cars that derailed were carrying lumber and electrical wiring and caught fire causing a small forest fire, according to the Maine Forest Service. The fire is now contained and being monitored by local emergency first responders, the service said.
Maine Governor Janet Mills tweeted she was briefed on the train derailment and stated her office "will continue to closely monitor the situation" but that there was "no threat to public health or safety."
The rail network, which was inaugurated Friday, combines railways from Canada and the US to create "the first single-line railway connecting Canada, the U.S., and Mexico," according to a press release.
"CPKC is the only railway connecting North America and has unrivaled port access on coasts around the continent, from Vancouver to Atlantic Canada to the Gulf of Mexico to Lázaro Cárdenas on Mexico's Pacific coast," the press release states.
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