London, Ont. train fire: How sparks from locomotive exhaust may have played a role

Just over two weeks after a burning train travelled through a highly populated area of London, Ont., the Transportation Safety Board has confirmed it is investigating.

The Transportation Safety Board has confirmed that it is launching an investigation into the circumstances surrounding a train travelling through a major Ontario city while up in flames last month.

The blazing CPKC train travelled eastward through much of London, Ont., just before 11 p.m. on April 21, shocking onlookers and prompting the fire department to urge area residents to stay indoors as crews battled the flames.

The train eventually came to a stop around Waterloo and Pall Mall streets and firefighters were able to get the flames under control just after 1 a.m. April 22. The smouldering train was then moved a few blocks east to the railway yard that stretches between Adelaide and Quebec streets, just north of Central Avenue, where crews continued dousing hot spots.

At the time, firefighters had said the impacted train cars contained used wooden railway ties, which are used in laying railway tracks. No injuries were reported.

On Wednesday, the Transportation Safety Board confirmed that “after gathering additional information and evaluating the evidence,” it has decided to move forward with a formal investigation. The investigation will be Class 5, though, which is a lower-level investigation that does not require a comprehensive look at what happened, nor is an investigation report required.

“However, data on Class 5 occurrences are recorded in suitable scope for possible future safety analysis, statistical reporting, or archival purposes,” spokesperson Hugo Fontaine explained.

Fontaine also explained that the likely cause of the fire was “sparks from the locomotive exhaust along with the air flow of the moving train” which caused flames “to spread rearward to each subsequent car.”