Courtesy Dan Reynish

By Lisa Parent

Train derailment showcases importance of emergency readiness

Oct 3, 2023 | 5:44 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A train derailed on Sunday at the 900 Block of South Railway Street SE. There were no injuries, but Medicine Hat Fire did remain on scene as a precaution while they waited for the Canadian Pacific (CP) rail team to arrive, who successfully re-railed the train.

There was a combination of methanol and anhydrous ammonia in the ten cars that derailed. A small amount of methanol was released after the incident.

Merrick Brown is the assistant chief of community safety and director of emergency management at the city of Medicine Hat. He says train derailments are actually a common occurrence, as about one train derails each day in western Canada.

Brown says the city of Medicine Hat has a close working relationship with CP and are always prepared for situations like this. However, he says most train derailments are not a concern.

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“One thing that the public should be knowledgeable about is that these rail cars are highly technical, highly robust, just given the products that they’re carrying. So, numerous, numerous safety factors (are) incorporated into the rail car itself, should a derailment like this occur. (If) an incident does occur, it can easily just be rerailed as we saw on the weekend,” says Brown.

Brown does stress the importance of being prepared for emergency situations, like having an evacuation kit ready to go or a power outage kit at home, because as this weekend demonstrated, emergency situations can happen at any time.