RSS
|
Mobile
|
Daily Emails
|
We Twitter
| Make us your home page
Residents who were evacuated following a Union Pacific train derailment and fire Thursday morning in Leon County are back in their homes, and officials said crews are working to build a road to get equipment to the remote, wooded area to finish the cleanup and rebuilding process.
Leon County Sheriff's Office chief of communications Larry Keith said as a precautionary measure, officials went door-to-door to ask residents of about eight to 10 homes within a 1.5-mile radius of the derailment to leave the area. They were allowed to return home by Thursday night.
The derailment occurred at 4:30 a.m. Thursday, three miles southwest of Oakwood on tracks that parallel U.S. Highway 79.
Officials said they aren't sure what caused the train to derail near a trestle over Keechi Creek. Two Union Pacific crew members on the train walked away uninjured.
Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza-Williams said the train had four locomotives and 50 cars, and all four locomotives and six rail cars derailed. Three locomotives and all six rail cars caught fire. She said the train carried no toxic materials.
Officials are investigating to determine what caused the fire and whether it started before or after the derailment.Espinoza-Williams said another train had passed through the area about 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, and "there is no indication" that that train could have caused the fire.
Keith said the fire was extinguished by 4 p.m. Thursday and fire departments were released from the scene by 6 p.m. He said only Union Pacific crews were on the scene Friday.
The Buffalo and Oakwood fire departments and various agencies with four-wheelers worked throughout the day to put out the fire, Keith said. The derailment occurred in a creek or tributary bottom with soft ground, and the area is difficult to access. Two helicopters - one from the Texas Forest Service and one from Global Services - were used to help.
Two of the locomotives that derailed and 42 rail cars that were still on the tracks were removed Thursday, Espinoza-Williams said. Two derailed locomotives - one of which is partially in the creek - and six derailed rail cars remained Friday.
"We've been working around the clock," she said.
The Texas Forest Service is helping Union Pacific to build a road so UP crews can bring in equipment needed to remove the remaining derailed locomotives and cars and to rebuild the tracks, Espinoza-Williams said. She wasn't sure how long that would take.
"We've started rebuilding the railroad tracks, and we're also going to need to replace the bridge," she said.
Espinoza-Williams said UP crews will replace 10 panels of rail, with each measuring 36 feet long. The company is assessing the cost of damages. The company's goal is to have the rail line re-opened and cleanup finished by Sunday afternoon.
"We're just glad our crew made it out safe," she said.
She said the locomotives had diesel in them, and crews put a containment boom in the creek to contain any diesel. After the locomotive is removed from the creek, the diesel will be removed. Then an environmental consultant will test the water to make sure it's clear of diesel.
