ST. LEONARD, New Brunswick – An official of the Van Buren Fire Department said Friday afternoon that a derailment scene across the St. John River from the Maine border town still looked like a war zone, but there was optimism that the Canadian National Railway line could be open by 5 p.m. Friday.

On Thursday afternoon, 54 cars of a 137-car CN train derailed between St. Leonard and Grand Falls, New Brunswick, across the St. John River from Hamlin.

An untold number of residents, everyone within a 1-mile radius of the crash site, were evacuated after the 3:20 p.m. crash. That included about 20 Hamlin homes along Route 1A. People were allowed to return to their homes after 9 p.m. Thursday.

According to Brian Caron, assistant fire chief at Van Buren, the evacuation was a precaution because a leak could have sprung from any number of cars in the train. Some of the cars contained petroleum products, propane, butane and acid materials.

Caron said the only leak from any of the cars was a clay slurry used in papermaking. It is not a hazardous material.

“I never saw an accident this big in my life,” Caron said Friday afternoon. “It still looks like a war zone today.

“We were very fortunate in this since there were no injuries,” he said. “With all the chemicals involved, it could have been very hazardous.”

Van Buren firefighters answered the call quickly Friday. They have a mutual aid agreement with St. Leonard and the American firefighters are automatically dispatched to major incidents in the Canadian town. They included firefighters from six departments, a hazardous materials team from Fredericton, New Brunswick, and environmental and emergency management personnel from both sides of the border.

Caron said a large number of emergency personnel were at the scene Thursday and Friday to aid in the investigation and the cleanup. He estimated the number at more than 500 people from New Brunswick and Maine.

Friday afternoon CN crews were clearing debris and installing new rail lines, Caron said.

Caron said one road in Canada, called the old Trans Canada Highway, remained closed Friday. Traffic was being rerouted to the new Trans Canada Highway. The closed road was being used by emergency equipment for faster access to the derailment site.

Route 1A was closed to traffic for about 3 miles, Ouellette said.