A CN Rail locomotive caught fire as it rolled through Wilson Park pulling a string of coal cars this morning.
The train came to a stop only a few feet from a residential area in the vicinity of Ayr Place, Blair Crescent and the terminus of North Tabor Boulevard - near North Ospika Boulevard -at about 8:20 a.m. Tuesday.
Prince George Fire Rescue Service attended, but there was little to do as thick smoke spewed into the air, but flames did not spread. The fire was confined to the engine compartment of the lead locomotive on the westbound train.
According to CN Rail spokeswoman Kelli Svendesen, the fire did not burn for long.
"They [firefighters] responded to the scene and extinguished the fire shortly after it was discovered," she said. "There were no injuries, and the cause is under investigation. We do a thorough investigation and find out the cause of it."
Smoke could be smelled as far away as McQueen Crescent and McLeod Avenue.
"I heard the train clang a bit, making noise, and when I looked I could see thick black smoke coming off the locomotive," said resident Gerry Cardinal.
"The fire trucks came right away, and the smoke went from black to grey, and there was a bit of fire, too, you could see the flames. The smoke was really thick, up in a plume, and blowing that way [west]."
Cardinal said the vehicles and other outside items in the neighbourhood were used to having a layer of soot because of the train particulate so the smoke would be little more concern to him.
"They were supposed to give us a tax cut for having our houses so close to the tracks along here, but they haven't," he said. "It doesn't do a lot for my asthma."
