An explosion occurred Thursday inside a shipping container at the world’s largest rail yard, forcing people in western Nebraska to evacuate as toxic fumes erupted when a chemical on board caught fire.
An explosion occurred inside an intermodal container on a Union Pacific railcar at Bailey Yard in North Platte around noon, but the cause was not immediately clear, railroad spokesperson Robynn Tysver said. No one was injured and no vehicles derailed.
Authorities evacuated everyone within a one-mile radius of the explosion at the west end of the train station because of the smoke, and U.S. Highway 30 between North Platte and Hershey was closed. Interstate 80 was not affected by the smoke. It was unclear how many homes were evacuated in the largely rural area on the edge of the city. North Platte is located approximately 230 miles (370 kilometers) east of Denver and 250 miles (400 kilometers) west of Omaha and has a population of approximately 23,000 people.
The railway company said the fire was extinguished by 5.30pm on Thursday. Earlier, the North Platte Fire Department said in a post on Fire officials did not immediately return calls seeking more details.
Tesfer said one of the containers involved contained perchloric acid, which is used in explosives as well as various foods and medicines. Authorities said the car that exploded had been stationary for several hours.
Joanna LeMoyne, deputy director of the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency, said officials are monitoring the situation and weather to determine which direction the smoke will move “to help ensure the safety of responders and citizens and avoid an overdue caution.”
The railroad station where the explosion occurred covers 2,850 acres (1,153 hectares) and is up to 8 miles (13 kilometers) wide in one spot. An eight-story observation tower was built several years ago so thousands of streetcars can be seen sorting from train to train on Union Pacific’s vital east-west corridor.
A volunteer working inside the Golden Spike Tower told The North Platte Dispatch on Thursday that he was talking to someone when he saw a “big fireball” billowing up.
“Then it was fire, fire, fire for 10, 12 minutes. Then the fire died down, the smoke increased, and then there were just sparks,” Greg Robertson told the newspaper.
Robertson said two plumes of smoke came from the explosion site. “The plume to the east was like black smoke. The plume to the west was orange smoke, like nothing I’ve ever seen in a fire,” he said.
Because the explosion occurred near the west end of the rail yard and prevailing winds blew toxic smoke away from the tracks, Union Pacific was able to continue operating some facilities and keep trains moving, railroad officials said. Union Pacific restored use of the entire rail yard after the fire was extinguished Thursday night, spokesman Kristen South said.
railway safety Norfolk Southern trains have been a major issue across the country since they began cheating and caught fire in eastern Ohio.The derailment triggered evacuations and calls for reform Congressman and regulatory agencies.
National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Sarah Taylor Sulick said the board was monitoring the situation but had not yet begun an investigation.
Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Warren Flatau said agency officials were monitoring Union Pacific’s response to the explosion at the railroad station.
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