No injuries after tanker truck hits train in Port Coquitlam
Posted January 22, 2018 6:59 pm.
Last Updated January 23, 2018 12:43 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – There are no injuries after a tanker truck carrying ethanol hit a train, causing a large fire in Port Coquitlam Monday night.
Witnesses reported large flames and small explosions that could be seen from the Pitt River Bridge.
The fire was in the area of Lougheed Highway and Oxford Street, near a railyard.
The City of Port Coquitlam says the driver of the truck and the CP Rail crew are all safe. The RCMP had evacuated an area within an 800 metre radius of the site, but CN Rail says there were no toxic materials being carried.
Roland Klann was in the area when he heard sirens and saw flames.
“I was coming over the Pitt River bridge and it was visible from there. I wasn’t sure what it was. I know they have a bonfire in there, this was obviously much bigger.”
“There’s flames, explosions… small explosions.”
@NEWS1130 @GlobalBC @CTVVancouver @CTV_Television Port Coquitlam train track fire pic.twitter.com/vXogC5Swy2
— belleamanda (@belleamanda) January 23, 2018
Curtis Goldsberry and his daughter Kiera were nearby when the fire started.
“We were on Lougheed, we heard the train blowing its horn. Then we heard a big explosion or whatever, then all of a sudden I’m like ‘oh Kiera look there’s a fire’ and I’m like ‘why does the fire look like it’s moving’. Because it was,” he says.
Another man nearby said the flames are about 20 to 30 feet high, with smoke billowing from the area.
