A train carrying gas derailed early Saturday in the middle of a town in Quebec near the U.S.-Canada border, setting off a major fire.
Franklin County Sheriff's office in Maine said that fire departments from the area had gone across the border to help Canadian firefighters battle the blaze that led to the evacuation of hundreds of people from Lac-Megantic.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that witnesses in the town of about 6,000 had heard several explosions following the derailment, which happened at about 1 a.m. ET.
A spokesperson for Ontario's Environment Ministry told the station that 73 rail cars filled with petroleum were involved.
The CBC said the fire had spread to a number of homes.
It's dreadful, Lac-Megantic resident Claude Bedard told the station. It's terrible. We've never seen anything like it. The Metro store, Dollarama, everything that was there is gone.
Some of the fuel was reported to have spilled into the Chaudiere River.