The explosion, which occurred around noon at the 2,850-acre North Platte, Nebr., yard, led to evacuations within a one-mile radius due to what the local fire department called “toxic smoke,” which was generated when one of the chemicals being hauled caught fire, according to a Sept. 14 Associated Press (AP) report. North Platte has a population of approximately 23,000 people and is about 250 miles west of Omaha. UP spokeswoman Robynn Tysver told the media outlet that no one was injured and no railcars derailed. She said it was not yet clear what caused the explosion and that the fire was extinguished by 5:30 p.m., the AP reported. According to the AP, “[o]ne of the containers involved was carrying perchloric acid, which is used in explosives as well as a variety of food and drug products, Tysver said. The car that exploded had been stationary for a couple hours beforehand, authorities said.” A volunteer at the Golden Spike Tower, built a few years ago “to allow people to watch thousands of railcars be sorted … on Union Pacific’s key east-west corridor,” told the North Platte Telegraph that “two plumes of smoke rose from the blast site,” according to the AP; “‘the east plume was like black smoke. The west plume was orange smoke, something like I’ve not seen from a fire,’ he said.” “Joanna Le Moine, deputy director of the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency, said officials are monitoring the situation and the weather to determine which direction the smoke will go ‘to help keep responders and citizens safe out of an overabundance of caution,’” the AP reported. Since the explosion occurred “near the western end of the railyard and the prevailing winds were carrying the toxic smoke outside the railroad,” AP reported, “Union Pacific was able to continue operating part of the facility and keep trains moving,” according to railroad officials. UP resumed full use of the yard after the fire was put out, UP spokeswoman Kristen South told the AP. According to the AP, the National Transportation Safety Board has not started an investigation, but is monitoring the event, agency spokeswoman Sarah Taylor Sulick reported. Federal Railroad Administration officials were at the yard monitoring UP’s “response to the explosion,” agency spokesman Warren Flatau told the AP on Sept. 14. The post Report: Explosion at UP’s Bailey Yard in Nebraska appeared first on Railway Age. Continue reading...
