Train derails, burns on bridge in Phoenix suburb of Tempe
No crew members hurt; span partly collapses
PHOENIX — A freight train traveling on a bridge that spans a lake in a Phoenix suburb derailed Wednesday, setting the bridge ablaze and partially collapsing the structure, officials said.
Video images showed huge f lames and thick black smoke rising into the air, and three train cars in a park next to Tempe Town Lake.
None of the train’s crew members was hurt, but there was a report of someone suffering from smoke inhalation, said Tim McMahan, a spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad. He said he did not know how many crew members were aboard when the train derailed.
Fire officials in the suburb of Tempe said that the derailment happened around 6 a.m. and that about 90 firefighters were first at the scene.
The train, traveling from Tucson to Phoenix, had 102 cars; eight to 10 of them caught fire, McMahan said. Several carried lumber, and the three that fell to the ground beneath the bridge were tank cars.
Two were carrying cyclohexanone, a pale, oily liquid that is toxic and flammable. McMahan said a third tank car was carrying a “rubber material” but did not provide further details.
McMahan said the tank cars were not involved in the ensuing blaze and it appeared none of them had any leaks.
Investigators with the Federal Railroad Administration were dispatched to start a preliminary investigation, the agency said in a statement. The National Transportation Safety Board will also investigate, officials said.