Heimdal, North Dakota, Evacuated After Fiery Oil Train Crash
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."
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