'Scary': Viral video shows northern Ontario train surrounded by bright orange wildfire. Here's what we know

A video shared by Sol Mamakwa, MPP for Kiiwetinoong, offers a stunning view of conditions crew members faced on Monday near Armstrong.

CN Rail has responded to a viral video showing one of its locomotives surrounded by a raging orange wildfire in northwestern Ontario on Monday. A video shared by Sol Mamakwa, MPP for Kiiwetinoong, offers a stunning view of the conditions crew members faced near Armstrong, in the Thunder Bay District. “This could potentially overtake us,” one man states, as flames fully surround the locomotive, which appeared to be stalled.

“This has gotten a little scary,” the man adds. “You all need to hurry up now. Like, seriously.

We’re encased in flames now.” Warning: The video contains coarse language. This is near Armstrong, Ontario.

When will the Canadian National Railway Company make a statement about this incident? pic.twitter.com/6bKJYugeR0 CN Rail media relations adviser Michelle Hannan confirmed in an email to Metroland Media that all employees in the area were safely evacuated and rail operations are temporarily suspended as a precaution due to wildfire activity. As a safety measure, CN employees in the area and residents of the town of Armstrong, about 220 km north of Thunder Bay, were evacuated Monday night, Hannan added.

Hannan did not indicate how long crew members were inside the train or how they were rescued. “CN remains in close contact with the Ministry of Natural Resources and local authorities as the situation continues to evolve,” Hannan said in a statement. “The safety of our employees, the community and emergency responders remains our top priority.

Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.” Meanwhile, Teamsters Canada is demanding answers from CN Rail on why its union members ended up in a wall of flames to move freight. “Railway workers keep this country’s economy moving, but no shipment is worth a human life,” Teamsters Canada president François Laporte posted to X on Wednesday afternoon. “CN owes its workers, and the communities along those lines, answers.” The video of the CN train has been shared worldwide, including coverage by CNN, The Straits Times, ABC News and Sky News in the U.K. Wildfires sweeping through northwestern Ontario have contributed to poor air quality throughout southern Ontario, including Toronto, which had the worst air quality among all major cities in the world according to IQAir , before it was overtaken by Kinshasa, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, late Wednesday afternoon.

More than 180 forest fires are burning in northern Ontario, creating high levels of fine particulate matter in the air, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada. “It’s really bad in the Toronto area, we have a concentration of fine particles near 100 micrograms per cubic metre, which is a lot. There are serious health issues at those levels,” Jean-Philippe Bégin, Environment and Climate Change Canada warning preparedness meteorologist, told Metroland Media in a prior interview.

Heat and severe air quality warnings are now in place throughout southern Ontario due to smoke from wildfires in northwestern Ontario “causing very poor air quality and reduced visibility” according to a July 15 alert. Conditions may improve by Friday morning, Environment and Climate Change Canada said. Orange-level air quality warnings remain in effect for most of southern Ontario, except for the eastern portion beyond Cobourg, which is under a yellow alert.

— With files from Janis Ramsay Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request.

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