Officials are lifting a recommended evacuation for residents of a small North Dakota town that’s near the site of a fiery oil train derailment that sent massive fireballs and smoke plumes into the sky.
The 2,400 residents of Casselton were asked to leave Monday afternoon after a BNSF Railway train derailed about a mile from town. A Some cars were still burning a day later.
Cass County Commission Chairman Ken Pawluk says the evacuation recommendation was lifted Tuesday afternoon. But he says officials are urging residents south of the derailment to stay vigilant about changing conditions. Pawluk estimated that the fire was about 80 to 90 percent burned out by Tuesday afternoon.
No injuries have been reported.
Investigators couldn’t get close to the blaze about a mile outside of Casselton and official estimates of how many train cars caught fire varied. BNSF Railway Co. said it believes about 20 cars caught fire after its oil train left the tracks about 2:10 p.m. Monday. The sheriff’s office said it thinks 10 cars were on fire.
No one was hurt. The cars were still burning as darkness fell, and authorities said they would be allowed to burn out.
Authorities hadn’t yet been able to untangle exactly how the derailment happened, but a second train carrying grain was involved. BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth said the train carrying grain derailed first, then knocked several cars of the oil train off adjoining tracks.
BNSF said both trains had more than 100 cars each.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday night it has launched a “go-team” to investigate the accident.
Ryan Toop, who lives about a half-mile away, said he heard explosions and drove as close as about two city blocks to the fire, which erupted on a day when temperatures were below zero.
“I rolled down the window, and you could literally keep your hands warm,” Toop said.
The derailment happened amid heightened concerns about the United States’ increased reliance on rail to carry crude oil. Fears of catastrophic derailments were particularly stoked after last summer’s crash in Quebec of a train carrying crude from North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch. Forty-seven people died in the ensuing fire.
The tracks that the train was on Monday pass through the middle of Casselton, and Cass County Sheriff’s Sgt. Tara Morris said it was “a blessing it didn’t happen within the city.”
Morris said it could take up to 12 hours before authorities could get close to the fire. About 80 of the cars were moved from the site. Jeff Zent, a spokesman for Gov. Jack Dalrymple, said the National Guard was on alert if needed.
Temperatures were forecast to drop to minus 20 in Cass County overnight.
“Of course, Mother Nature, being North Dakota, it has to be one of the coldest nights of the year. It’s deadly cold out there tonight,” Laney said.
Mayor Ed McConnell said he didn’t want any residents sleeping in their vehicles.
“All the experts say it can be a hazardous situation to their health,” McConnell said. “We’re going to try to get everybody out of the town.”
In the initial hours, authorities told residents to stay indoors to avoid the smoke.
Hannah Linnard, 13, said she was in the bedroom of her friend’s house about half a mile from the derailment, wrapping late Christmas presents.
“I looked out the window and all of a sudden the train car tipped over and the whole thing was engulfed in flames and it just exploded. The oil car tipped over onto the grain car,” she said. Hannah said she could feel the warmth even inside the house.
Terry Johnson, the manager of a grain dealer less than a mile from the derailment, said he heard at least six explosions in the two hours following the incident.
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