AUGUSTA, Maine ? All Maine firefighters have returned from Quebec after battling a blaze following a runaway train derailment 10 miles north of the border that killed at least five people and left about 40 people missing, state officials said Monday.
Maine environmental officials continued to monitor the derailment, and repeated Monday that the oil spill and fires weren't affecting the state's air or water.
Rob McAleer, director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency, said Canadian officials told him that no additional resources are needed.
"I have conveyed Governor LePage's commitment to help in any way we can, should the need arise. Officials in Quebec have told us that at this time they have the resources they need going forward with the response," McAleer said.
Dozens of businesses and numerous homes were destroyed Saturday when 72 oil-filled tankers came loose, sped downhill nearly seven miles into the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, causing explosions, an intense fire and thick plumes of smoke.
About a third of the community of 6,000 was forced out of their homes.
In Maine, a dozen protesters on Monday called for independent inspections of the state's railways as well as a reduction in the number of oil tankers traveling across Maine to an Irving-owned refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick.
The demonstrators gathered outside the Hermon offices of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Inc., the train's owner.
The Federal Railway Administration, which regulates rail traffic and conducts rail inspections, had no immediate comment.
The Maine Department of Transportation sometimes assists federal regulators but does not regulate what trains haul, frequency of trips, destinations or other matters dealing with interstate commerce, spokesman Ted Talbot said.
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