Patticus Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I'm surprised that there hasn't been a topic created about this yet, considering the magnitude and location of the explosion, and the tragic loss of life it's known to have caused: The center of a Quebec town has been wiped out, according to the mayor, after a freight train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in a fireball at 1am on Saturday. Parts of the town were evacuated as fireballs shot several metres in the air, flames spread to nearby homes and thick acrid smoke filled the air. Emergency workers helped about 1,000 residents escape Lac-Megantic, which is close to the Maine border and about 250km from Montreal. -About 30 buildings destroyed in Lac Megantic -Force of blaze preventing rescue workers from checking for casualties -Oil from train cars is spilling into nearby river Source. The size of that fireball, holy crap! As the explosion hit in the center of town, which is apparently populated with some 6,000 or so people, it's expected that there will be several dozen deaths at least. I've heard in the region of 60, but it's hard to say right now. I hope the number is revised down. The American firefighters who rushed across the border to assist in dealing with the huge fire are awesome too, by the way; going above and beyond the call of duty to help out their neighbors to the north was a great act of... um... neighborliness? Altruism? Unselfishness? One or some of those things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegasonicZX Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 The second picture taken kind of scares me even though it was probably a coincidence. Also, I really hope there were little casualties in this I never knew one train crash could cause so much destruction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Warp Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Shit that's a province away from me.............I hope the residents stay safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Wisp Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Holy fuck those pictures are scary. Hopefully everyone's okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Dawg Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Good god, that's horrible. It's terrifying that something like that can happen... All I can offer is my sympathy and hope for those affected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Jane Smith Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 God, I live in Montreal... this is terrifying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meow Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Canada has just been slammed with one thing after another. Where I am, Alberta, was hit with incredibly destructive floods just recently that caused looooads of damage across multiple cities, including Calgary which is closest to me. Then this happens in Quebec... Sucks :/. I hope they get it all under control soon there because that is awful. Some of those photos are downright scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyLlama Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I've been reading about this, but didn't see any photos until now and they're quite something. I wish the best to the folks there and that this can all get sorted out fast. I'm sure we'll have an accurate death toll in the next day One thing that annoys me is I've already seen conspiracy theories about this :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIXTH-RATE SOMA Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Aye yi yi. My prayers are out to these poor people. Just... wow. Holy crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speederino Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Some of those pictures look downright post-apocalyptic, particularly that second-to-last one. It's a very scary realization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHCast Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 the second pic is definitely the creepiest. Especially being religious and all. My prayers go out to these people. What a tragic loss... I'm appalled that already people are trying to make a joke out of this, or come up with a conspiracy or some crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sly4Good Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Holy.....those are some really terrifying shots. My prayers out to all of those poor people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RK64 Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Wow.... that's just horrible I mean, just how can one train crash can cause so much destruction? Those picture imply that something much worse than a train crash caused this. I just wish the best for the poor people who got effected by this and that the location to recover soon. Speaking of the pictures, the first three are really unnerving (especially the second one, that looks something out of a horror film ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmett L. Brown Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 God, this is horrifying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tani Coyote Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 It looks like a miniature nuclear weapon went off there... Goodness gracious, this is a disaster. I wonder what went wrong? My condolences to all involved; I have to commend the firefighters who rushed across the border despite it not being part of their job. It's a refreshing change from the stories of private firefighting agencies letting homes burn for not paying their bills. Things like this put me more in favor of alternative energy. Barring nuclear it's not as explosive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 One thing that annoys me is I've already seen conspiracy theories about this :/ When is there not Conspiracy Theories when something tragic happens. Sounds like a unfortunate and tragic accident. Yeah big thumbs up to those American fire-fighters who helped out. Things like this put me more in favor of alternative energy. Barring nuclear it's not as explosive. No but it can make places uninhabitable and other horrific consequences like birth defects and worst forms of cancer etc. If there is a meltdown. It can be just as catastrophic if not more so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jin. Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 That explosion looks epic. Not a lot of hope for the victims, though, I think a bigger problem will be the after effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iDEATH Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 At least it happened so early in the morning which will have helped to reduce casualties. If this had happened in the middle of the afternoon it could have been much worse. I hope the death count is low..... That picture of Jesus....wow....one of the most astonishing pieces of photo journalism I've seen all year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tani Coyote Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 No but it can make places uninhabitable and other horrific consequences like birth defects and worst forms of cancer etc. If there is a meltdown. It can be just as catastrophic if not more so. Hence the "barring." I was stating alternative energies -besides- nuclear don't have such a massive potential for destruction. At least it happened so early in the morning which will have helped to reduce casualties. If this had happened in the middle of the afternoon it could have been much worse. I hope the death count is low..... A fair point. Overall this gives merit to keeping freight trains out of central districts, I think. Never mind the traffic issues those things cause, there's less chance of catastrophic loss if an accident like this happens. That picture of Jesus....wow....one of the most astonishing pieces of photo journalism I've seen all year. This is a tragedy, but I have to agree with you. That is actually a morbidly beautiful picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candescence Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Holy hell. Those are some unsettling photos. I hope there aren't more casualties. Things like this put me more in favor of alternative energy. Barring nuclear it's not as explosive. My thoughts exactly. Aside from the whole climate change 'debate' (which kinda isn't so much a debate anymore than it is a bunch of diehard skeptics desperately trying to push back against overwhelming irrefutable evidence built up over decades), there are serious long-term benefits to phasing out fossil fuels in favor of alternate, renewable energy sources, the biggest and most important one being "what happens when we eventually run out of fossil fuels"? We're already seeing oil supplies worldwide start to gradually dry up, remember the times when petrol prices were less than a dollar per liter? Actually, I'm kinda curious now as to how much crude oil that train was carrying, and how much in petrol it would equate to. Chances are it would probably be in the realm of at least thousands of dollars, if not tens of thousands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Hence the "barring." I was stating alternative energies -besides- nuclear don't have such a massive potential for destruction. Tell that to the Ukrainians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyLlama Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 (edited) Actually, I'm kinda curious now as to how much crude oil that train was carrying, and how much in petrol it would equate to. Chances are it would probably be in the realm of at least thousands of dollars, if not tens of thousands. No one ships an amount only worth thousands on a train, a truck will easily hold that. A barrel of crude is 44 liters, a tanker truck can hold 200 barrels. At the current price of 103$/barrel a single truck can carry just over 20000$ of crude oil. Most trains can haul about 100 oil cars so it's a nice figure to work with. The average oil car can hold 740 barrels of crude oil. That's about 74000 barrels of oil per train or 7,622,000$. Some trains hold more. The math won't be perfect and I don't know exactly how much the train was holding, but those are the type of numbers we're dealing with. Also the train will hold less if it's hauling light cars which are of a different construction. I don't know what type it had or how many, I'm just using averages. So yah, it's quite a bit. Edited July 7, 2013 by SkyLlama 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizcrybe Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Those pictures were quite unsettling. Just how big that explosion was. Seeing this, I'm never joking about nothing happening in Canada again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tornado Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 there are serious long-term benefits to phasing out fossil fuels in favor of alternate, renewable energy sources, the biggest and most important one being "what happens when we eventually run out of fossil fuels"? Presumably another one is that there will be less train cars exploding in the middle of Canadian towns, to try to make it somewhat relevant to the topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.58cfe414f117a5b917dfc7f637393e58.png)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now