Rail cars carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire Friday in a remote area of North Dakota, but authorities said no one was injured and the threat to people living nearby appeared to be minimal.
Twenty-nine cars of one CPKC The train derailed about 3:45 a.m. in an area surrounded by farmland that is about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of Fargo, said Andrew Kirking, Foster County emergency management director.
The cars were carrying anhydrous ammonia, sulfur and methanol, said Bill Suess, spill investigation program manager for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. Ammonia posed the biggest risk, but the wind carried the smoke away from the nearby town of Bordulac, which has about 20 residents.
“The wind has been in our favor on this,” Suess said. “This risk has greatly reduced. It still exists – as long as the fires persist.”
Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in the air can cause burns to the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory tract, and can result in blindness, lung damage or death, health officials say. Exposure to smaller amounts may result in coughing and nose and throat irritation.
For now, authorities do not plan to evacuate nearby residents, but that could change if the wind changes, Suess said.
Kirking said the cause of the derailment was not known. The engineer and driver escaped safely, he said.
Kirking said it appeared 10 to 15 cars caught fire. Video posted on social platform X showed the fire burning intensely. It was still burning at noon on Friday. A team of railway firefighters was at the scene.
CPKC said in a statement that it “has initiated its emergency response plan and launched a comprehensive and coordinated response.”
CPKC was the result of a merger last year of Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern.
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