Official: Fire still burning hours after train derailment

GRAETTINGER, IOWA >> A fire sparked by the derailment of a freight train hauling ethanol through rural northwest Iowa continued to burn strong nearly 15 hours later, but appears not to be leaking any significant amounts of ethanol into a creek at the site, an Iowa environmental official said Friday.

“There was a pretty big explosion about 45 minutes ago” at the site of the fire, Iowa Department of Natural Resources field office supervisor Ken Hessenius said around 3:15 p.m. Friday. “No one can get within about a third of a mile of the fire yet. It’s still pretty dangerous there.”

The train derailed and burst into flames around 1 a.m. Friday as it crossed a trestle bridge over Jack Creek that empties into the Des Moines River. It happened near the small community of Graettinger, about 160 miles northwest of Des Moines. Two train crew members escaped unharmed and no injuries have been reported.

Officials expected the fire to burn out by Saturday, allowing investigators and railroad crews to better assess the damage and clean up the area, Hessenius said.

He also said it did not appear any significant amounts of ethanol had spilled into the creek after staff from his agency checked downstream. A water sample from the creek hadn’t yet been lab tested, but Hessenius said the water appeared uncontaminated after “a smell test.”

Officials asked residents of three homes — each at least a half-mile from the derailment — to evacuate, the Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office said. Those residents were allowed to return home Friday afternoon after officials determined the fire did not pose a risk to them, the sheriff’s office said.

Palo Alto County emergency management director Mark Hunefeld said at least 27 of 101 cars derailed.

Railroad personnel were able to unhitch 74 loaded tankers and move them away from the site. Each tanker carries about 25,000 gallons.

Ethanol is water-soluble, will quickly disperse through surface water and can reduce oxygen content to the point of producing fish kills. The threat to drinking water depends on concentration, experts say. The clean-burning fuel additive is an alcohol — often made from corn — that is mixed with gasoline to help meet vehicle emissions standards.