CALGARY- Canadian Pacific Railway has gotten a huge bill from the fire department, following a derailment in southeast Calgary.
Last September, eight cars carrying a diluting agent jumped the tracks near Inglewood, forcing six of them to overturn. A number of surrounding roadways were shut down as a result, and 12 businesses and 142 homes had to be evacuated while first responders tried to determine what was inside the cars.
The fire department has since billed CP for more than $500,000, because of the level of emergency response required.
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“When you have these extended events or events that require outside the norm amount of resources for a long period of time, we think it is appropriate that those resources and that cost is then shared specifically by businesses,” said CFD deputy chief Ken Uzeloc. “We were there for two and a half days with a lot of resources tied up…to make sure public safety was being managed correctly.”
The CEO of CP Rail came under fire last month, after accusing emergency responders of sitting in a trailer drinking coffee and eating donuts instead of taking action. That doesn’t sit well with those who were affected by the derailment.
“It was very pompous to describe the EMTs and what not, all the people that helped out cleaning that up and getting people out of here and making sure everyone was safe and limiting the damage as best they could,” says Nadina Stainsby, who owns a store in Inglewood. “For him to come along and have that kind of view, I thought was absolutely ridiculous.”
CP declined to comment on the bill, saying any discussions about the invoice will remain between them and the city.
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