British ColumbiaThe evacuation order for five properties in a rural area in B.C.’s East Kootenay has been lifted hours after a train derailment, east of Cranbrook, prompted local authorities to clear the area. CPKC estimates about 12 cars carrying wood products and propane were involvedLauren Vanderdeen · CBC News · Posted: Nov 29, 2025 3:24 PM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Train cars have derailed about 16 kilometres east of Cranbrook, B.C., according to CPKC. (Corey Bullock/CBC)The evacuation order for five properties in a rural area in B.C.’s East Kootenay has been lifted hours after a train derailment, east of Cranbrook, prompted local authorities to clear the area. In an update Saturday evening, the Regional District of East Kootenay said residents were being allowed to return home after further assessment determined there was no longer a risk to the public. The order had been in place since around 12:30 p.m. in an area northwest of Bull River along the Kootenay River and Fenwick Road.The district had also issued a state of local emergency, which has also been cancelled, stating the derailment posed “an existing or imminent threat to people and property within the area known as Electoral Area C.” The derailment occurred around 7 a.m. in a remote area about 16 kilometres east of Cranbrook, according to Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC).The railway said there are no injuries but about 12 cars were involved, including some carrying wood products and tanker cars carrying propane, according to early estimates.”Crews and equipment have responded to the site to conduct a full assessment and begin work on a clean-up,” CPKC said in an emailed statement. The district’s emergency operations centre director Christina Carbrey said the evacuation order was done “out of an abundance of caution.””Without having all [the] full details, we wanted to make sure that the residents in the immediate area were safe,” she said in an interview Saturday afternoon.The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says it has deployed two investigators to examine the site.RCMP said in an emailed statement it was notified of the incident at 9:30 a.m. and deferred further comment to the railway company and the TSB as lead investigators.ABOUT THE AUTHORLauren Vanderdeen is a web writer for CBC British Columbia. She formerly worked for community newspapers, including the Burnaby Now and New West Record. You can reach her at lauren.vanderdeen@cbc.ca.
Evacuation order lifted after train derailment east of Cranbrook, B.C.
