A freight train hauling cars loaded with crude oil derailed and turned into a fireball about 160 miles northwest of Chicago on Thursday afternoon, marking the third such derailment in three weeks.
The derailment south of Galena on a major rail route along the Mississippi River happened about 1:20 p.m. and the fire sent up a large cloud of smoke that could be seen for miles,
according to Reuters. BNSF Railway said in a statement that there were no injuries and no evacuations, but the cause of the derailment remained under investigation.
Galena city administrator Mark Moran was cited as saying that eight tankers were involved in the derailment out of 103 cars carrying the oil,
according to the Chicago Tribune.
Galena assistant fire chief Bob Conley said firefighters had to use a bike path to get to the derailment site and once there were unable to control the flames. Conley said firefighters had to pull back from the site for safety reasons and allow it to burn out, reported the Tribune.
"I activated the State Incident Response Center to ensure we're ready to act quickly if any local responders need our assistance," said Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, adding that members of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency were sent to the scene.
The Wall Street Journal reported that since mid-February there have been crude oil train derailments in West Virginia and in Ontario, Canada, and in those cases several railcars ignited and exploded spectacularly into giant fireballs.
The three incidents involved modern tanker cars that the industry brought online in 2011, noted the Journal. The tanker cars were built to be safer and stronger than earlier tank cars.
A BNSF Railway told the Journal that the 103 cars were loaded with oil from North Dakota's Bakken Shale and were accompanied by two other cars carrying sand. The Journal suggested the recent string of crude oil railcar failures may force the federal government to move along its review of new rules governing oil trains and the design of tank cars.
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