Highway 16 has opened after being closed for almost 40 hours because of a train derailment and fire west of Guernsey, about 115 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon. The road was closed because of the smoke. Work continues adjacent to the highway, so the Highway Hotline says the speed limit through the area is 60 kilometres an hour, as of Tuesday afternoon.

CP Rail says 34 cars derailed just after midnight on Tuesday. The derailment led to a large fire, with thick black smoke billowing into the air. HazMat crews, firefighters, RCMP and CP Rail responded to the scene.The track was re-opened this morning once all the repairs and safety inspections were completed. The cars were carrying crude oil and the area impacted involves between 5 and 10 acres.

A crew of around 100 responders have been working at the site in the extreme cold. CP has said it is investigating the cause of the derailment. There is no work on how much crude was spilled.

Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived on site Tuesday morning to begin their investigation. Cleanup work is also underway with some damaged rail cars removed from the site and plans are in place to transport the remaining cars when it’s safe.