Officials Fear ‘Catastrophic’ Explosion After Major Train Derailment in Ohio

Portions of a Norfolk and Southern freight train that derailed Friday night in East Palestine, Ohio, are still on fire at mid-day, on Feb. 4, 2023. Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo

Residents in an Ohio village were urged to evacuate after a train derailed, causing a “catastrophic tanker failure” that could result in an explosion that may shoot shrapnel thousands of feet, officials said.

“Within the last two hours, a drastic temperature change has taken place in a rail car, and there is now the potential of a catastrophic tanker failure which could cause an explosion with the potential of deadly shrapnel traveling up to a mile,” Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement on Sunday that called on residents of the village of East Palestine to evacuate. The village is located in northeastern Ohio.

His statement did not specify what was in that car or whether it was among those that had been carrying hazardous materials. Federal investigators had announced earlier Sunday that a mechanical issue with a rail car axle caused the fiery derailment near the Pennsylvania state line Friday night.

Authorities urged anyone within a 1-mile radius of the site to leave immediately. Many had, but local officials indicated more than 500 residents had declined to evacuate, the statement said.

No injuries to crew, residents, or first responders have been reported so far. DeWine activated the National Guard and other personnel over fears of a possible explosion.

Mayor Trent Conaway, who declared a state of emergency in the village, told The Associated Press that one person was arrested for going around barricades right up to the crash during the night. He warned that more arrests would follow if people do not stay away.

“I don’t know why anybody would want to be up there; you’re breathing toxic fumes if you’re that close,” he said, stressing that monitors of air quality away from the fire showed no levels of concern and the town’s water is safe because it is fed by groundwater unaffected by some material that went into streams. Environmental protection agency crews were working to remove contaminants from streams and monitor water quality.

Sheriffs went door-to-door Sunday to count residents remaining and urge people within the evacuation area to leave. Schools and village offices will be closed at least through Monday, and businesses within the evacuation zone are not allowed to open Monday, officials said, AP reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the incident, said that about two-dozen train cars were carrying hazardous materials and ten of those cars derailed. And five of the derailed cars were carrying vinyl chloride, which is described as highly flammable by the Environmental Protection Agency (pdf).

The agency said in a statement Saturday, however, that it has “not confirmed vinyl chloride has been released other than from the pressure release devices.”

Train operator Norfolk Southern said that vinyl chloride, combustible liquids, butyl acrylate, and benzene residue were being carried on the derailed train. It was also carrying non-hazardous materials such as plastic pellets, wheat, and liquors.

According to a Facebook post made on the East Palestine page, “the fire from the derailment has similar constituents as a wood fire” and that “short-term exposure” to some of the substances emitted during the derailment doesn’t “present a long-term” health risk to locals. However, vinyl chloride and benzene can “cause cancer in people exposed in the workplace to high concentrations for many years.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.