On July 6, 2013, a Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway train engine caught fire and was extinguished by the Nantes Fire Department. In the process of extinguishing the fire, fire department turned off the engine. Later MMA officials left the train unmanned and parked on the line. As the engine had been turned off, the brake system began to lose pressure, eventually dropping to the point the brakes could no longer hold the train in place. The train rolled away from Nantes, towards Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, and derailed there, causing an explosion that destroyed around half of the downtown area and killed forty-two people.