Fire chief: ‘Absolute miracle’ crew escaped burning, derailed train in Maine

ROCKWOOD, Maine (WMTW) - New information is emerging about a train derailment in Somerset County that sent flames and smoke above Moosehead Lake Saturday morning.

Bill Jarvis, chief of the Jackman-Moose River Fire & Rescue Department, was one of the first responders on the scene.

Jarvis said it was an ‘absolute miracle’ the three crew members, all from Maine, were not more seriously hurt.

“One of them did tell me as they were coming along with the train, 35 mph with approximately 15 million pounds of freight in the train, that they could suddenly see the rail still there but with the washout they knew nothing was underneath the rail and they knew there was nothing they could do and the lead locomotive they were in went right down,” Jarvis said.

The Jackman-Moose River Fire & Rescue Department is roughly 20 miles from where the train derailed in Sandwich Academy Grant Township.

“They went for quite a ride and it is very fortunate they were able to get out because the damage the locomotive sustained, how quickly it stopped, the other cars coming behind it hitting it, the lumber cars that started piling up on top of it and caught fire they had to break out a side window because the locomotive was laying on its side and we’re able to get out and walk away, it is a praise God moment,” Jarvis said.

No hazardous material left the tracks.

According to Jarvis, one of the cars close to the burning material was carrying flammable wire.

Jarvis said he also noticed ethanol in sealed containers in cars left upright.

The chief applauded the response from Canadian Pacific Railway, noting that their employees were ‘going like crazy’ to clean up.

According to a release from the Maine Forest Service, an early assessment indicates that the derailment may have been caused by a build-up of melting ice and debris that washed out part of the railroad track.

“Ice and debris had built up by the culvert that flows under the tracks and there was so much water raising the ice that it just seemed to have saturated the railroad bank by that and it just let go and washed it all out,” Jarvis said.

A spokesperson for Canadian Pacific said the fire at the scene involved the locomotives and lumber cars only.

“We are coordinating with local first responders who are on scene. Our emergency response teams and hazardous materials experts have responded and continue to conduct a full assessment of the situation,” said C. Doniele Carlson, director of Corporate Communications.

Carlson said Sunday they will provide an update as more information becomes available.