Traffic ‘completely backed up’ after Regina train catches fire

Traffic on Regina’s First Avenue and Ross Avenue, between McDonald Street and Winnipeg Street, was backed up Sunday morning after a train caught fire.

Sheldon Cyrenne was driving eastbound on Ross Avenue around 9:30 a.m. when the locomotive came to a halt.

“That’s when I started to see a big cloud of smoke, so I pulled ahead a little bit so I could see and — sure enough — there was a fire at the engine on the tail end of the train,” he described.

“Firefighters started putting it out then; they probably worked on it for about half an hour with two trucks, shooting water at it before it went out.”

By around 10:20 a.m., Cyrenne said traffic was “completely backed up” and police blocked off parts of Winnipeg Street and McDonald Street to allow drivers to turn around.

980 CJME is still waiting to hear back from Regina Fire and Protective Services as to what sparked the blaze.
 
— With files from Jayda Noyes