Train derails, forcing evacuation of Minnesota town

Authorities say about 10 cars of 22 that went off tracks were carrying ethanol, which caused the fire

Hundreds of people had to evacuate their Minnesota town after a train hauling ethanol and corn syrup derailed and caught fire early Thursday, but authorities were hopeful that the quick response and cold weather would help limit the impact of this latest crash.

Still, those pushing to improve rail safety said the derailment only added urgency to the debate over reforms that Congress and regulators are considering, even as officials seemed to apply some of the lessons learned after last month’s fiery derailment near East Palestine, Ohio.

Minnesota officials said the BNSF train derailed around 1 a.m. in Raymond, roughly 161 kilometres west of Minneapolis. That prompted the evacuation of essentially all of the town’s 250 homes because they were within 0.8 km of the derailment. The evacuation order was lifted around noon.

The nation has been increasingly focused on railroad safety since the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment that prompted several thousand evacuations in and around East Palestine near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Residents in that town of about 5,000 remain concerned about lingering health impacts after officials decided to release and burn toxic chemicals to prevent a tank car explosion. State and federal officials maintain that no harmful levels of toxic chemicals have been found in the air or water, but residents remain uneasy.

The major freight railroads have said they plan to add about 1,000 more trackside detectors nationwide to help spot equipment problems, but federal regulators and members of Congress have proposed additional reforms they want the railroads to make.

While state and federal agencies were quick to respond to the Ohio derailment, Norfolk Southern’s CEO and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were slow to visit the town, and U.S. President Joe Biden has yet to survey the damage himself. The railroad even skipped one of the first community meetings because of fears about the safety of its employees. Contrast that with Thursday’s response when BNSF CEO Katie Farmer showed up on day one to apologize and promise a thorough cleanup, and Buttigieg jumped on CNN within hours.

BNSF officials said 22 cars derailed, including about 10 carrying ethanol, and the track remained blocked, but no injuries were reported. The cause hasn’t been determined, but EPA officials said on Twitter that four ethanol cars ruptured and the flammable fuel additive caught fire. The company ADM confirmed that the ethanol came from its corn processing facility in Marshall, Minn.

Evacuees went to nearby Prinsburg — first to a school and a church where volunteers prepared food and distributed donated bottled water. Emergency responders retrieved three dogs from homes in Raymond in the morning and brought them to the church shelter.