Photo courtesy of Alex McCuaig - Crews at the scene of the Irvine train derailment walk next to the track just prior to it reopening at 11 a.m. Saturday Aug. 3, 2019.

By Alex McCuaig

Irvine-Update

Life returning to normal in Irvine following a hectic week.

Aug 3, 2019 | 2:03 PM

IRVINE, AB – It’s been a hectic week for the residents of Irvine, starting with a number of grassfires in the area seven days ago causing a state of local emergency to be issued and topped off with an emergency evacuation order on Friday due to a train derailment.

“People were coming around saying you got to go – a train derailed and there were chemicals, we need to get out of here,” said Margaret Harrigan, Irvine Hotel owner, about how she was notified about Friday’s incident.

Harrigan – whose husband is a volunteer with the Irvine Fire Department – said she had been ready to evacuate a week earlier when a fire was burning near the outskirts of hamlet.

“When they came to evacuate, I still had my bags packed from a week before,” said Harrigan.

Life was getting back to normal for Robert and Judy Garrison as they sat on their front porch swinging chair, drinking lemonade in the shade Saturday morning.

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Robert said the Red Cross was able to get him and his wife accommodation after being told to evacuate around 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

“A guy came to the door and said you got to get out of here. The train had a derailment and we’re evacuating the town,” said Robert. “I had my old dirty work clothes on. I went to change clothes and some other people come and said, ‘you got to get out now!’”

By 11 a.m. sharp on Saturday, the first of several waiting trains held up in both directions slowly made its way through the hamlet.

Cypress County says nearly 200 people were evacuated from the community with 61 accessing services through the Red Cross.

The federal Transportation Safety Board announced Saturday morning that they will be investigating the derailment.