Officials urge evacuation near derailment, fear explosion
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – Officials monitoring the smoldering, tangled wreckage of a train derailment in northeastern Ohio urgently warned hundreds of nearby residents who had declined to evacuate to do so Sunday night, saying a rail car was at risk of a potential explosion that could launch deadly shrapnel as far as a mile.
They warned of “the potential of a catastrophic tanker failure” after a “drastic temperature change” was observed in that rail car, according to a statement from Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine’s office that said teams were working to prevent an explosion at the scene in East Palestine. It did not specify what was in that car or whether it was among those that had been carrying hazardous materials.
Authorities urged anyone within a 1-mile radius of the site to leave immediately. Many had, but local officials indicated more than 500 residents had declined to evacuate, the statement said.
Federal investigators had announced earlier Sunday that a mechanical issue with a rail car axle caused the fiery derailment near the Pennsylvania state line Friday night.
Michael Graham, a board member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a news conference that the three-member train crew received an alert about the mechanical defect “shortly before the derailment” but said the board was still working to determine which rail car experienced the issue.
About 50 cars derailed in East Palestine as a train was carrying a variety of products from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said. No injuries to crew, residents or first responders were reported.
Graham said investigators identified the exact “point of derailment” but did not disclose the location Sunday. He said information will be included in a preliminary investigative report expected in the next month or so.
East Palestine officials said emergency responders were monitoring but keeping their distance from the fire, and that remediation efforts could not begin while the cars smoldered.
Mayor Trent Conaway, who declared a state of emergency in the village, said one person was arrested for going around barricades right up to the crash during the night. He warned that more arrests would follow if people did not to stay away.
“I don’t know why anybody would want to be up there; you’re breathing toxic fumes if you’re that close,” he said, stressing that monitors of air quality away from the fire showed no levels of concern and the town’s water is safe because it is fed by groundwater unaffected by some material that went into streams.