MACOUN - Highway 39 near Macoun is open once again.
The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure's Highway Hotline reported the reopening at 4:21 a.m. Saturday.
The highway had been closed since Thursday morning due to the train derailment and fire that occurred that morning.
Traffic had been deteoured around the derailment site.
The evacuation order stemming from the derailment and fire was lifted Friday afternoon.
Aaron Toles, the emergency management officer for the RM of Cymri, said everyone who was forced to flee their homes in the RM of Cymri and the Village of Macoun can now return home. There had been just one final affected home remaining.
Also, the "exclusion radius" related to the fire is now 500 metres. It was 2,200 metres on Thursday, and dropped down to 1,000 metres Friday.
Meanwhile, CP Rail released another update Friday afternoon regarding the train derailment and fire that occurred northwest of Macoun on Thursday.
Andy Cummings, the manager of media relations with CP Rail, said repairs to the railway tracks were completed Friday morning, allowing train movements to resume.
Toles noted the fire is under control but has not been extinguished.
"Expect flare-ups at the derailment site, but they're under control," said Toles, who noted the flare-ups will be part of the process.
The derailment occurred Thursday just before 10 a.m. Nobody was injured in the incident.
The number of rail cars affected has not been released by CP Rail, but grain cars were involved, and the company said two cars carrying liquefied petroleum gas were involved in the derailment.
SASKTODAY.ca will have more details as they become available.
Thanks to Amber Mantei for the video below:
