Moose Jaw police and fire dealt with a train collision in the city’s CP rail yard that happened on Wednesday morning.
Police were called to assist CP staff in the 1700 block of Coteau Street West at about 5:30 a.m.
Reports indicated a train was on fire causing concern in regards to some of the yard’s rail cars containing hazardous materials.
Police cordoned off the area and began evacuating residences within an 800 metre radius of the fire.
Cassie Charbonneau, who has lived in Moose Jaw for three years, was one of the evacuees.
“Someone was banging on the door, ringing the doorbell. We stumbled to the door and it was a police officer. He said there was a train fire and we had do leave,” Charbonneau said.
“We got no information. We don’t know if the risk was just from the fire or whatever was in the train cars. We grabbed the kids, threw them in the car and left.”
She said the experience caught her off guard.
“It was startling. You go through this type of thing in your head, what you would do in a situation like this,” Charbonneau said.
“It was not like I thought. I thought I would grab photo albums or whatever, but we didn’t grab shoes for the kids.”
By 7 a.m., all loaded rail cars had been removed from the area as the fire department gained control of the fire.
At that point, it was determined there was no further risk to the public. No injuries were reported.
Evacuees were given the OK to return home.
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