About 150 firefighters, some from the United States, spent most of Saturday spraying cold water from the lake on five tanker cars they said still posed a serious risk of exploding. Several Maine fire departments were sent to help Canadian crews deal with the blaze. Eight trucks carrying about 30 firefighters were sent across the Maine border to lend assistance, according to Franklin County dispatcher
Stan Wheeler. Those trucks came from Chesterville, Eustis, Farmington, New Vineyard, Phillips, Rangeley and Strong.
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic owns some 510 miles of track in Maine and Vermont in the United States and in Quebec and New Brunswick in Canada.
— from Bangor Daily News
¦ LAC-MEGANTIC IS PART of Quebec’s Eastern Townships region, an area popular with tourists that is close to the border with Maine. The town is about 30 miles west of Jackman, Maine, but it’s a roundabout, 67-mile drive to get from one town to the other.
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