50-Car Train Derailment Causes Big Fire, Evacuations In Palestine Ohio

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – On Friday night, a train derailment and ensuing large fire prompted an evacuation order and a state of emergency in an Ohio village near the Pennsylvania state line, covering the area in billows of smoke lit orange by the flames below.

In East Palestine, a train carrying goods from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, went off the tracks, Norfolk Southern said in a statement on Saturday. There was no immediate word on what caused the train derailment. There were no reported injuries.

The mayor of East Palestine, Trent Conaway, called a state of emergency because a train carrying dangerous materials derailed. The train was carrying more than 100 cars, 20 of which were classified as carrying hazardous materials, defined as cargo that could pose any danger “including flammables, combustibles, or environmental risks,” according to Norfolk Southern.

Safety Board Launched A Meeting In Palestine

On Saturday, the National Transportation Safety Board announced that it was “launching a go-team to investigate” the derailment, with board member Michael Graham acting as a “spokesperson on scene.”Village officials said in a separate statement on Saturday that firefighters have been moved out of the immediate area and unmanned stream devices are being used as a precaution while crews try to figure out which cars are still burning. They said they hoped to use drones to assess the scene during the day, but residents should expect more explosions as the fire burns.

On Saturday morning, the village told people who lived within a mile of the scene that they still needed to leave. A high school and community center were opened to house dozens of people, while residents outside of that radius were urged to remain indoors.

Ann McAnlis, one of the few dozen residents sheltering at the high school, said a neighbor texted her about the crash.

“From the front porch, she took a picture of the glow in the sky,” McAnlis told WFMJ-TV. “That’s when I realized how significant this was.”

Firefighters From Three States Responded

According to Conaway, firefighters from three states responded. The train derailed about 82 kilometers (51 miles) northwest of Pittsburgh, near the tip of West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle in Palestine.

Conaway said that freezing temperatures in the single digits complicated the response because trucks pumping water froze.

Hazmat crews were also sent to the scene to see if there were any dangerous materials, and officials say that the air quality in the area is being checked.

According to Norfolk Southern, personnel is on-site coordinating with first responders.

The fire produced so much smoke that meteorologists reported seeing it on weather radar.

SOURCE – (AP)