I remember the Mississauga train derailment back in '79. I was at a friend's place in Ancaster. We thought the neighbours were having a bonfire, but as we moved we could see it was huge and far away. We got into the car and headed eastward, steering towards Dundas. As we drove through Dundas to make our way to Highway #5, somebody was lighting fireworks off the Dundas cliff lookout over the train tracks. We turn on the radio and hear that there was a bombing at Grand Prix Motors in Hamilton. We are thinking, WTF? Anyway we made our way east through Waterdown, and as we descended and looked out over the plains comprised of Oakville & Mississauga, the true magnitude of the fire hit us. It was HUGE!
Where it happened was undeveloped back then but is now fully developed.


On another note, you should try Google Street View of Lac Mégantic and Rue Frontenac. Set the date to June 2013 and you can see the main thoroughfare. One month later it was 3 blocks burned to the ground.