April 21, 2024 at approximately 22:45, a freight train carrying rail ties had six open-top gondola cars catch on fire. The crew aboard the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) train became aware of a fire somewhere between Strathroy-Caradoc and London. The train immediately stopped and cut away from the tail end of the train, isolating the fire before pulling the flaming cars to a crossing at Waterloo Street, where there was a commercial fire hydrant and fire crews to extinguish the fire.
The fire caused an estimated $10,000 damage to a building at Pall Mall and Waterloo streets, and $25,000 damage to the five steel train cars that were hauling wooden railway ties, the London fire department said. Nobody was injured.
The cause of the fire was deemed to be sparks from the engine’s exhaust.
