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Feds to reveal cause of Fayette train derailment

MONTGOMERY, W.Va. — The derailment of a CSX tanker train at Mt. Carbon, W.Va. back in February was unlike anything local volunteer fire fighters had ever experienced.

“A derailment is kind of an animal unto itself, versus a car wreck or a structure fire,” said Montgomery Fire Department Chief Brent Musick. “There’s just no comparison to that and anything we’ve run.  We’ve had some large structure fires, but nothing involving hazardous materials and things like that.”

Musick recalled learning of the fire when he received a call from the Chief of the Anderson Creek Volunteer Fire Department telling him a train had derailed and was on fire.  By the time Musick’s department arrived on scene, there was no way to fight the fire.

“There was nothing that could be done except evacuation and that’s what we did,” said Musick. “We knew we had one house that was gone and checked to make sure the other exposures on both sides were okay.  We got within about 100 yards of it.”

Fire fighters went door to door in the nearby Adena Village housing development which was only a few hundred yards away. Residents were not panicked, but calmly asked for directions to get out of their homes, where to go, and how to avoid the fire along Route 62.

Adding to the difficulties were continuous explosions as the highly volatile Bakkan Crude oil in the derailed tankers ignited.

“Really intense heat and it was bright and kind of lit up the sky,” Musick said. “By that time they were back far enough away they weren’t in any danger, but they could feel the effects.”

The weather didn’t help matters. Snow was pouring as local residents scrambled to get outo f the area and first responders arrived.  During subsequent days the temperature plunged below zero making the difficult situation even more bleak.

A total of 47 rail cars jumped the tracks in the incident.  One house was leveled by the explosions and fire and amazingly nobody was killed or even injured.

Friday, the Federal Railroad Administration will unveil its findings on the cause of the accident and steps which could be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.





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