Photo courtesy Jennifer Radisic - Train cars have derailed near the town of Irvine

By Charles Lefebvre, Alex McCuaig

Update - train

Evacuation order over, highway open, TSB to investigate Irvine derailment.

Aug 2, 2019 | 3:46 PM

IRVINE, AB — The Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the train derailment that saw residents within a seven kilometre radius of Irvine told to evacuate following a train derailment on the west side of the hamlet Friday afternoon.

That evacuation order has since been lifted, the Trans-Canada Highway has been reopened and the first train made its way through Irvine at 11 a.m. sharp.

The Alberta Emergency Alert issued Friday stated the derailment involved damage along the railway line, chemical exposure and disruption of road and highway access.

The Alberta Emergency Alert officially ended at 8:40 p.m.

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CHAT received calls about the derailment shortly before 3:30 p.m. , with residents noting smoke and fire in the area. The number of cars involved in the derailment is not immediately known.

Video of the derailment was sent to us from Geoff Watson and can be viewed below.

Crews are responding to a train derailment near the Town of Irvine (photo courtesy Jennifer Radisic)

In a statement, CP Rail confirmed a train derailment occurred at approximately 3:20 p.m. and that teams were dispatched to the site, but did not provide any more details.

Photo courtesy Sandra Fry