CASSELTON, N.D. – A shift in the weather could increase the risk of potential health hazards after a train carrying crude oil derailed in North Dakota and set off explosions, said authorities who were “strongly recommending” that residents in a nearby town evacuate.
About 2,400 people live in Casselton, 1.5 kilometres from Monday’s fiery derailment. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office was urging residents there and those living eight kilometres to the south and east to leave their homes because of the weather shift, which it said the National Weather Service was forecasting.
“That’s going to put the plume right over the top of Casselton,” Sheriff Paul Laney said.
No one was hurt, and the cause was still being investigated.
Sheriff’s officials said that the evacuation unfolded in calm and orderly fashion in recent hours, with the majority of nearby residents heeding a strong recommendation by authorities to leave.
The derailment happened amid heightened concerns about the United States’ increased reliance on rail to carry crude oil. Fears of catastrophic derailments were particularly stoked after last summer’s crash in Quebec of a train carrying crude from North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch. Forty-seven people died in the ensuing fire.
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The explosions Monday afternoon sent flames and black smoke skyward outside of Casselton, about 40 kilometres west of Fargo. Investigators couldn’t get close to the blaze and official estimates of how many train cars caught fire varied.
BNSF Railway Co. said it believed about 20 cars caught fire after its oil train left the tracks about 2:10 p.m. Monday. The sheriff’s office said it thought 10 cars were on fire.
The cars were still burning as darkness fell, and authorities said they would be allowed to burn out.
Authorities hadn’t yet been able to untangle exactly how the derailment happened, but a second train carrying grain was involved. BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth said the train carrying grain derailed first, then knocked several cars of the oil train off adjoining tracks.
BNSF said both trains had more than 100 cars each.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday night it has launched a “go-team” to investigate the accident.
WATCH: NTSB still trying to determine cause of train derailment in North Dakota
Ryan Toop, who lives less than a kilometre away, said he heard explosions and drove as close as about two city blocks to the fire, which erupted on a day when temperatures were below zero.
“I rolled down the window, and you could literally keep your hands warm,” Toop said.
The tracks that the train was on pass through the middle of Casselton, and Cass County Sheriff’s Sgt. Tara Morris said it was “a blessing it didn’t happen within the city.”
Morris said it could take up to 12 hours before authorities could get close to the fire. About 80 of the cars were moved from the site. Jeff Zent, a spokesman for Gov. Jack Dalrymple, said the National Guard was on alert if needed.
North Dakota is the No. 2 oil-producing state in the U.S., trailing only Texas, and a growing amount of that is being shipped by rail. The state’s top oil regulator said earlier this month that he expected as much as 90 per cent of North Dakota’s oil would be carried by train in 2014, up from the current 60 per cent.
The number of crude oil carloads hauled by U.S. railroads surged from 10,840 in 2009 to a projected 400,000 this year. Despite the increase, the rate of accidents has stayed relatively steady. Railroads say 99.997 per cent of hazardous materials shipments reach destinations safely.
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