Dozens of residents asleep in their south Winnipeg houses awoke Friday to an early-morning train fire just metres from their homes.
The blaze broke out around 3:40 a.m. a.m. on a train near Wildfire Drive off Shorehill Drive in Royalwood.
Canadian Pacific Railway said the train, hauling mixed freight, posed no threat to anyone because none of the cars lost material. Residents, however, still had worries, especially coming just a few months after the disaster in Lac-Megantic, Que.
Resident Brad Wallin lives about 200 metres from the tracks in Royalwood.
He said he awoke to the lights and sounds of the fire close to his home.
The locomotive carrying 100 rail cars had burst into flames.
"The engine on the train was on fire. The flames were shooting out of the stack pretty high,” said Wallin.
He said, that while it didn't take long for firefighters to put out the flames, he was still worried, not knowing what was in the cars.
“It’s a little concerning….when you have track going right through a neighbourhood like this, especially if they are transporting dangerous goods or something like that. They should be on the outskirts of the city, not right next to residential areas,” said Wallin.
CP said it maintains the highest standards when transporting trains through residential areas and checks its procedures on a regular basis.
No homes had to be evacuated, but a transit bus was brought to the scene in case people needed to leave their houses.
A spokesperson for CP said there are no plans to relocate tracks from residential areas in Winnipeg.
Currently, the Transportation Safety Board is assessing the locomotive and then will decide whether to launch an investigation into the fire.
