Witnesses shocked by train wreck

Miles Kupila and Lee Millett were relaxing over coffee around 11:05 a.m. Saturday when something strange started happening along the CN track outside the latter’s Christie Avenue kitchen window.
And then the pair couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Things just started happening–almost at once.
Box cars teetered, crashing off the track, dumping tons of coal along the rail line. The railway ties and track jumped from where they sat.
And a train hitch–which Kupila said weighed more than 200 pounds–rocketed up in the air about 30 feet before coming to a crashing halt beside the fence.
Then it was over. And they were left to survey the wreckage of a 10-car train derailment.
“When it started going, it was just like dominoes,” said Millett, who noted they called 911 to report what was happening.
What surprised Kupila most was the heavy hitch flying into the air, admitting it was fortunate no one was injured when it landed with a thud.
Just a few feet further and it would have come flying into Millett’s backyard.
Millett said he felt fortunate his children, Jaclyn, seven, and Roxanne, five, weren’t playing outside at the time, noting their swing set sits right next to the wire fence that separates their yard from the tracks.
He admitted he did rush out to make sure his dog, which was tied near the fence, wasn’t hurt by the crash.
Though he wasn’t sure if there had been any people along the tracks at the time, Millett said the engineer had told him he hadn’t seen anyone when he drove by.
But Millett said children often walk and play there, adding he just hoped no one had been buried under the coal.
“I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime,” Kupila said.