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Residents of a small Minnesota town are returning home after an evacuation order was issued overnight due to a derailed fire train.
Several BNSF train cars carrying ethanol and corn syrup derailed at 01:00 local time (06:00 GMT).
The fire continued to burn about eight hours later. Officials said four other cars carrying ethanol could leak.
The town of Raymond, population 800, was evacuated to a nearby church and school from 11 a.m. Thursday.
There were no reports of injuries. The local sheriff’s office advised against travel to the area because of the fire and said the cause of the crash was being investigated.
Transportation Minister Pete Buttigieg told CNN that 14 of the 40 cars carried hazardous materials.
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The fire continued to burn eight hours after the derailment
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it had officials on site at 6:30 a.m. and was monitoring air quality in the community.
“Four vehicles containing ethanol, a highly flammable product, were torn apart, caught fire and continued to burn,” the EPA said in a statement.
It can also launch four other ethanol-containing cars. »
The sheriff’s office said the incident did not affect groundwater in the area.
Raymond residents received evacuation orders for at least seven hours Thursday.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz visited the region and said his upcoming state budget includes a “significant investment” in rail safety.
Over the past five years, there have been more than 60 train derailments in Minnesota, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner.
Stephen Tswart, a pastor from nearby Prinsburg, said his church began accepting evacuees around 1:30 a.m.
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People were evacuated to a nearby church after being woken up in the middle of the night
“When you’re up in the middle of the night, you’re kind of trying to figure out what’s going on,” Zwart said.
“A lot of people were just trying to pick up the pieces.”
Evacuee James Miller paid tribute to the more than 20 volunteers who came to the church to help.
“I would say we’re known for that,” Miller said. “It makes you feel really good — really the reason we live in such small communities.”
