Vancouver Canucks, JT Miller

Canucks Miller’s Hometown Under Evacuation

Following a train derailment of fifty cars carrying hazardous material on Friday night, the hometown of Canucks forward J.T. Miller continues to be in danger. Residents have been evacuated and explosions are still possible in East Palestine, Ohio on the border with Pennsylvania. The hazardous chemicals have made it difficult for the firefighters to extinguish the flames.

Miller and the Canucks are in New York preparing to play the New Jersey Devils on Monday night in Newark. He has not been reached for comment. East Palestine sits about 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, the area in which Miller grew up playing youth hockey and top-end bantam and midget hockey with and against the likes of John Gibson, goaltender for the Anaheim Ducks.

Pre-Canucks, NHL, Humble Beginnings

East Palestine would be the just the opposite of a large US city like Pittsburgh that features three major league sports teams. It’s a rural community that specialized in tire and ceramic manufacturing during its prime and features a large Norfolk Southern freight train station.

Flames and smoke could be seen pouring out of the scene of the accident, high into the sky above the town. forcing the evacuation of approximately 1,500 of its almost 5,000 residents.

No injuries have been reported at this time, but explosions are still possible as some the of the freight cars apparently continue to burn.

USA Today was reporting that residents – were given an urgent evacuation order Sunday night. Ohio Goveror Mike DeWine said Sunday that there had been a “drastic temperature change” in a rail car, which could cause a “catastrophic tanker failure,” making it possible for an explosion with deadly shrapnel travelling up to a mile.

Miller and the Canucks will remain in that eastern time zone and in the general region of his hometown for a Canucks four-game road trip that runs through February 11th in Detroit.

Rob Simpson

Rob Simpson has covered the NHL in five different decades. He’s authored 4 books on hockey and is a veteran TV and radio play-by-play man and reporter.