Two tank cars are source of fire in multi-car accident.
Firefighters contained a blaze in rural Saskatchewan Tuesday after 26 cars on a Canadian National Railway train derailed, according to multiple news accounts. Two of the cars carried petroleum distillates.
The incident draws further attention to the transport of crude oil by rail. In the past 16 months there have been a series of fiery accidents in the United States and Canada involving tank cars with crude that have derailed and ruptured, most notably the deadly crash in Lac Megantic, Quebec, in 2013.
The increase in domestic oil production in remote areas without pipelines has led to a huge boost in shipments by railcar. U.S. light sweet crude has proven more flammable than previously thought. Regulators are scrambling to implement new rules that would phase out older tank cars and replace them with ones better designed to withstand impact. Railroads have slowed train speeds and are installing sensors on tracks to try and minimize derailments.
CN freight train carrying petroleum products derails
