Update: Hwy. 7 in Vaughan reopens folllowing rail car spill scare
There was no leak at McMillan rail yard, fire department says

YorkRegion.com
Dec. 11, 2017
Lisa Queen

Hwy. 7 between Keele and Jane streets in Concord has reopened after emergency crews determine there was no potential chemical spill at a nearby rail yard, Vaughan deputy fire chief Deryn Rizzi said.

The road was closed for a couple of hours the morning of Dec. 11 after a CN Rail worker collapsed beside a rail car at the McMillan yards and emergency responders had to ensure it wasn’t leaking, she said.

“One of the workers, he collapsed. We took a look at the tanker and car and what it was carrying. We had to follow appropriate protocol...which would take a look at the type of chemical that was in the tanker and wind direction as a precaution in case the worker collapsed due to a release,” Rizzi said.

“We had to shut down Hwy. 7. A dangerous goods officer from CN Rail yard showed up. There was no release. At this point in time, the reason for the patient’s collapse is unknown. But there is no issue at the CN Rail yard.”

Emergency crews have to use “an abundance of caution when something like that happens and assume the worst when a patient is down” with seemingly no medical history to explain his collapse, Rizzi said.

The fire department has computer software to help firefighters map out how large of an area would be affected by a potential spill based criteria such as the substance and wind speed and direction, she said

Hwy. 7 was closed for more than two hours until about 11:30 a.m., platoon chief Brian Culp said.

“The assumption was that it could have been a leak. The supervisor there for dangerous goods for CN, he went around and checked to make sure there were no leaks,” he said.

“In the meantime, we went ahead just in case there was a leak, we evacuated and shut down Hwy. 7, just precautionary, just in case it was leaking so we had control of the incident.”