Unity/Wilkie/ Macklin RCMP have cleared the scene of a train derailment just West of the Town of Landis.
Sixteen cars derailed about about 4:50 a.m. Wednesday sparking a grass fire doused by the Wilkie and Biggar fire departments.
RCMP say one of the 16 cars was leaking and Hazmat crews are on scene to deal with the containment and clean up of the spill. The size of the spill is not known, police say, but is from one of the tanker cars that was breached in the derailment.
The spill involved a petroleum product that is not considered highly explosive. Because of the flammable nature of some of the other rail-car contents, and the proximity to the town of Landis and the school, the decision was made to close the Landis School for the day while the contents of the damaged cars were unloaded.
The cause of the derailment is unknown at this time, but the RCMP can confirm that the derailment happened mid-train, there were no other vehicles involved.
The derailment occurred 500- to 700 metres from the town of Landis. The train was westbound at the time of the derailment. The train was carrying grain cars, tanker cars with ethanol and other chemicals, and other cargo cars.
