ROCKWOOD, Maine — Cleanup was underway Sunday after a Canadian Pacific Kansas City freight train derailed Saturday morning just north of Rockwood.
Around 8:30 a.m., the freight train reportedly derailed six lumber cars, as well as three locomotives, a news release from Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) Railways said.
According to Rockwood Fire & Rescue on Facebook, the train caught fire after derailing.
An update from CPKC on Sunday noted that two cars carrying drums of Pentamethylheptane and Ethanol, both classified as hazardous materials, did derail but were not involved in the fire and did not leak or spill.
Some diesel did spill, however, and a boom and absorbents were being used to help with the cleanup, the Sunday CPKC update also stated.
CPKC said the freight train derailed in a rural wooded area around 15 miles east of the town of Jackman after encountering a "track washout."
According to the Maine Forest Service in a news release, who responded to assist at the scene, the train derailed in Sandwich Academy Grant Township in Somerset County.
"An early assessment indicates that the derailment may have been caused by a buildup of melting ice and debris that washed out part of the railroad track," the Maine Forest Service added.
"The fire at the scene involved the locomotives and lumber cars only," CPKC said in the release. "The hazardous materials being carried by the train are not involved in that fire."
The fire reportedly created a small forest fire, but as of 6 p.m. Saturday, the fire was contained and being monitored, the Maine Forest Service said.
CPKC added its hazardous materials experts and emergency response teams responded to the derailment scene to conduct a full assessment.
The Maine Forest Service also said after officials conducted an assessment of the scene, it was determined the hazardous materials "are not at risk of leaking and are not at risk of catching fire."
Following the derailment, three railroad workers were taken to a nearby hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening, according to the Maine Forest Service. As of Sunday, all three had been released from the hospital, and no additional injuries were reported.
Bill Jarvis is the chief of the Jackman-Moose River Fire and Rescue Department, and he was one of the first crews at the site. He told NEWS CENTER Maine that three crewmembers onboard one of the locomotives told him they were able to escape by climbing out of a window.
"They could see the tracks and the washout underneath, and they knew they were going to go in, and there was nothing they could do," Jarvis said. "They were extremely lucky. Somebody was watching out for them. Without a doubt. Because if they hadn't have gotten out, there is never a way we would have gotten to them. Just wouldn't have happened."
This derailment comes just a day after CPKC was created.
On Friday, Canadian Pacific Railways and Kansas City Southern Railways announced they were combining to create CPKC, "creating the first single-line railway connecting Canada, the U.S., and Mexico," according to the CPKC website.
No evacuations were made following the derailment, and there is no threat to public safety, CPKC said.
On Sunday, efforts were underway to salvage, clean up, and repair the railway by Canadian Pacific, with aid from the Maine Forest Service, as well as the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Jackman-Moose River Fire and Rescue Department, according to a news release from the Maine Department of Agriculture.
"This effort involves removing the derailed locomotives and rail cars, cleaning up debris from the accident, and repairing the rail line," the release states.
No set timeline for the cleanup was given. However, the Sunday news release did note that the rail cars transporting hazardous substances were removed from the scene Saturday and do not pose a threat to public safety.