On the night of November 10, 1979, a 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train derailed at Mavis Road, north of Dundas Street. Box cars, flat cars and tankers were overturned and strewn over the area.
1979 – The Mississauga Train Derailment
On the night of November 10, 1979, a 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train derailed at Mavis Road, north of Dundas Street. Box cars, flat cars and tankers were overturned and strewn over the area.
As a result of the subsequent explosion, when one of the tank cars carrying propane exploded, and because other tank cars were carrying chlorine, the decision was made to evacuate nearby residents in one of the largest peace time evacuations in history.
Streets in the area were deserted as residents were evacuated from the area. It was, until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the largest full scale evacuation ever in peace time.
An unusual sight was the Queen Elizabeth Way, quite deserted.
One of the places to which evacuees were sent was the International Centre in Malton. Here meals are being served by volunteers to the evacuees.
Amazingly, no lives were lost, and by November 16th residents were able to return to their homes.