State of emergency in southeastern Sask. RM still in effect after train derailment Thursday

The state of emergency in the rural municipality (RM) of Cymri in southeastern Saskatchewan was still in effect Friday morning.

Some time before 10 a.m. CST Thursday, a Canadian Pacific Railway freight train derailed two kilometres northwest of Macoun, Sask., a village within the RM, about 160 kilometres southeast of Regina.

An intense fire ignited, with thick black smoke emanating from the flames. A CP spokesperson told CBC News Thursday evening that two freight cars carrying liquefied petroleum gas were part of the fire.

No injuries were reported.

The RM of Cymri declared a state of emergency around 2:30 p.m. CST Thursday, and everyone within a 2.2-kilometre radius of the scene were told to evacuate the area, according to a Facebook post.

Around 9:45 a.m. CST Friday, the RM said the state of emergency was still in place, but the evacuation zone had been reduced and residents who are affected had been contacted.

It said CP Railway representatives would be at the RM office until noon Friday to meet with people affected by the derailment.

The scene is still active, the RM added.

Highway 39, which runs parallel to the rail line where the incident occurred, was closed to traffic Thursday. The highway, near Main Street in Macoun, was still closed Friday morning, according to Saskatchewan's Highway Hotline.

Estevan RCMP officers were still on scene Friday to help maintain traffic safety, an RCMP spokesperson told CBC News.

Repairs to the railway tracks, however, were completed Friday morning, so trains could move through the area again, a CP Railway spokesperson told CBC News.

CP sent emergency crews to the scene Thursday and its hazardous materials experts were working with local first responders.

WATCH | Train derailment in southeastern Saskatchewan leads to massive fire:

On Friday, the CP spokesperson said the HazMat response team was still working with local emergency responders to clean up the freight cars involved.

The Saskatchewan environment ministry sent two environmental protection officers to the scene to help with the response.

The main environmental impact at the moment is air quality from the smoke, which the officers are monitoring, a ministry spokesperson told CBC News.

Other potential environmental impacts can be assessed once the fire is out, they said.

Transport Canada is aware of the derailment and is verifying with CP about compliance, the federal ministry said on Facebook Thursday.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) also deployed investigators to the scene.

The investigator-in-charge was already there, but three more investigators were scheduled to arrive later Friday, a TSB spokesperson told CBC News.

The investigators will talk to company and government personnel and witnesses, and examine the train's operations and the condition of the locomotive and freight cars, as well as the railway infrastructure, according to the TSB website.

Afterward, they'll sleuth into various records, create simulations and reconstruct what happened, then identify safety deficiencies and update the public on the investigation, the website says.

The TSB will eventually publish a report on the incident.

The TSB could not provide more details Friday, as the investigators were still processing information, the spokesperson said.

Village's local state of emergency over

The local state of emergency declared by the Village of Macoun has ended, despite the one for the RM of Cymri remaining in effect.

The initial evacuation zone spanned 2.2 kilometres from the scene of the derailment, but that was reduced Friday morning.

As a result, Macoun was able to lift its state of emergency and evacuation order, said Carmen Dodd-Vicary, the village's chief administrative officer.

"All-in-all, it's going in the right direction," Dodd-Vicary said.

Four homes in Macoun — housing 14 total residents — were evacuated Thursday due to the fire, she said. CP Rail personnel met with evacuees to discuss compensation for their expenses.

Macoun School, a local K-8 school, was under a shelter-in-place order Thursday, but a spokesperson for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division said operations are back to normal Friday.

Buses were still being detoured from the scene of the derailment, the spokesperson said.

Dodd-Vicary has lived in Macoun for 15 years and worked for the village government for nearly as long. This was not her first train derailment, she said.

But the community is fortunate the derailment happened further away, she said, because a section of the track runs through the village.

"It could have been so much worse," she said.