BNSF oil train derails in rural Illinois; two cars aflame

A BNSF Railway train loaded with crude oil derailed on Thursday afternoon in a rural area south of Galena, Illinois, with two of the tank cars catching fire, according to the company and local officials who ordered a voluntary evacuation within 1 mile of the scene.

The incident marks the latest in a series of derailments, and the third in three weeks, involving trains hauling crude oil, a trend that has put a heightened focus on rail safety. 

A release from the Jo Daviess County Sheriff's Department confirmed the derailed cars were filled with oil from the Bakken region of the Northern Plains. Last year, a safety alert issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (PDF) warned the public, emergency responders and shippers about the potential high volatility of crude from the Bakken oil patch.

Dark smoke was seen for miles around the crash site, and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency told local WREX.com that two of the cars were potentially on fire. Images posted online by Dubuque Scanner showed flames several hundred feet high, while aerial footage showed the wreck spread across two sets of track.

"The sky is pretty dark down there, the smoke is pretty black," said Kevin Doyle, whose property borders the tracks. 

The train with 105 loaded cars — 103 of them carrying crude oil and two buffer cars filled with sand — derailed at approximately 1:20 p.m. local time, according to a BNSF statement. The incident occurred on what appears to be a major rail line where the Galena River meets the Mississippi that handles as many as 50 oil trains a week, one official said.

Authorities didn't say exactly how many people were evacuated, but said it wasn't many.

BNSF said there were no reported injuries. The railway, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway, said it did not know what had caused the derailment, which occurred about three miles outside Galena, a town of about 3,000 people on the border with Wisconsin.

In a statement, the Federal Railroad Administration said it was sending investigators to the Illinois derailment site and that the agency will conduct a "thorough investigation," to determine the cause.

Eight of the train's cars derailed, six of which had tumbled onto their sides, according to Galena City Administrator Mark Moran. The smoke could be seen as far as Galena, he said. 

Firefighters could only access the derailment site by a bike path, said Galena Assistant Fire Chief Bob Conley. They attempted to fight a small fire at the scene but were unable to stop the flames.

Firefighters had to pull back for safety reasons and were allowing the fire to burn itself out, Conley said. In addition to Galena firefighters, emergency and hazardous material responders from Iowa and Wisconsin were at the scene.

It was not immediately clear where the train originated or where it was heading. Chicago, which is 160 miles east, is a major rail hub for shipments from both North Dakota and Canada's oil sands.

BNSF spokesman Michael Trevino said railroad employees were on the scene and additional personnel were headed there.

About 40 to 50 oil trains come through the area each week, Jo Daviess County Emergency Manager Charles Pedersen said. 

The accident is just the latest involving oil trains in the United States and Canada. According to the Association of American Railroads, oil shipments by rail jumped from 9,500 carloads in 2008 to 500,000 in 2014, driven by a boom in the Bakken oil patch of North Dakota and Montana, where pipeline limitations force 70 percent of the crude to move by rail.

In 2013, 47 people were killed in the Quebec town of Lac-Mégantic after a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded. The most recent previous incident occurred three weeks ago.

Last month, a Canadian Pacific Railway freight train derailment in Dubuque, Iowa, spilled ethanol fuel into the water and set three cars on fire. Dubuque, which is 14 miles to the north west of Galena, has almost 60,000 inhabitants.

Wire services