Wednesday, May 6, 2015

A North Dakota town was evacuated after a Warren Buffett-owned oil train derailed and caught on fire

A North Dakota town was evacuated after a Warren Buffett-owned oil train derailed and caught on fire

  • May 6, 2015, 11:08 AM
The nearby town of Heimdal was evacuated after as many as many as 10 tank cars of a BNSF train came off the rails, local media and fire officials said. There were no injuries, officials said. BNSF is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett.
A photo posted on Facebook by a local radio station showed flames and heavy black smoke from several tank cars that had derailed in a field.
According to KX News, Heimdal is a 40-person town in central North Dakota that is located along one of the main rail lines heading east out of the giant Bakken oil patch.
About two-thirds of all North Dakota oil production is shipped by rail; three-quarters of that oil goes to refiners on the US East Coast.

rail line Google Maps/Amanda Macias/Business Insider
"The FRA has deployed a ten person investigation team to the site and will be conducting a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident," Sarah Feinberg, acting administrator at the Federal Railroad Administration, said in a press statement.
BNSF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The derailment came just days after the US Department of Transportation and Canada's Transport Ministry announced new rules last Friday for oil trains, including phasing out older tank cars, adding electronic braking systems, and imposing speed limits. The measures were all meant to reduce the frequency and severity of oil-train crashes.
The volume of crude oil shipped by rail has rocketed in recent years as production increases from areas like North Dakota outpaced new pipeline development.
A spate of explosive accidents have accompanied that growth, the worst of which occurred in July 2013 when a train derailed in the town of Lac Megantic in Canada, killing 47 people.
Already this year, five trains have derailed and caught fire in the United States and Canada, all in rural areas. No deaths have occurred but the accidents have stoked fears about the safety of transporting crude oil by rail.
(Reporting By New York Energy desk; Editing by Frances Kerry)
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Heimdal, North Dakota, Evacuated After Fiery Oil Train Crash

Heimdal, North Dakota, Evacuated After Fiery Oil Train Crash

By Lisa Riordan Seville, Sean Federico-O'Murchu and Tracy Connor
A tiny North Dakota town was evacuated Wednesday after a train carrying crude oil derailed and 10 cars burst into flames, local authorities said. It is the latest in a string of explosive oil train derailments that have raised concerns about the large volume of crude moving across America's tracks.
No injuries have been reported from the derailment of a BNSF train near Heimdal, North Dakota. The town, which in 2010 had a population of 27, has been evacuated, as have farms near the crash site.
"I was in the house at 7:15 a.m. when we thought we heard thunder," witness Jennifer Willis told NBC News.
She went out to the scene, about an eighth of a mile away, and found the area covered in black smoke.
"It was kinda awesome. It's kinda scary to hear it. It was like fireworks going off. You could hear little explosions going off. I sat there for 15 minutes and you could hear it going off," she said.
Fire crews from three nearby towns were called in, and BNSF said it was aware of the incident and cooperating with first responders.
The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a five-person team to the site, and the Federal Railroad Administration dispatched 10 investigators.
"Today's incident is yet another reminder of why we issued a significant, comprehensive rule aimed at improving the safe transport of high hazard flammable liquids," the FRA said in a statement. "The FRA will continue to look at all options available to us to improve safety and mitigate risks."
Last week, federal regulators passed new safety rules governing crude by rail, which has become a booming business thanks to the growth in U.S. oil production. Nearly 450,000 tankers of crude moved through North America last year, up from just 9,500 in 2009.
The Heimdal accident comes nearly two years after a tragic oil derailment killed 47 people and destroyed the center of a small Quebec town.
"There are trains pretty much all day going through," Willis said of Heimdal. "A lot of them carry grain and, of course, oil."

IN-DEPTH

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North Dakota Town Evacuated After Train Derailment


KVLY | Red River Valley | News, Weather, Sports

North Dakota Town Evacuated After Train Derailment

Updated: Wed 9:56 AM, May 06, 2015
The Wells County Sheriff
Courtesy: Jennifer Willis
A North Dakota town has been evacuated after a train derailment Wednesday morning.
The Wells County Sheriff's Office tells Valley News Live the town of Heimdal, ND was evacuated after an oil train went off the tracks and started on fire around 7:30 a.m.
Heimdal is in between Harvey and New Rockford.
BNSF said in a statement the train was carrying crude oil and that initial reports from the crew indicate there are no injuries.
Spokesperson Amy McBeth says the tank cars involved in the incident are the unjacketed CPC-1232 models.
Fire crews from Harvey, Fessenden and Maddock have all been called in to fight the fire. An official with Harvey Fire says at least 5 oil tanker cars are burning.
Witness Jennifer Willis lives about a half mile from where the train derailed. She says she heard it happen this morning and it sounded like thunder.
Willis has been evacuated from her home. She tells Valley News Live the closest they've been allowed to the scene is an 1/8th of a mile and you could feel the heat.
Stay with Valley News Live and ValleyNewsLive.com for more on this breaking story.
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