Derailed train hauling toxic chemicals allowed to burn

Story Highlights

• NEW: Derailed train cars allowed to burn throughout the night
• NEW: Eleven people who sought hospital treatment have been released
• Fiery crash prompts evacuation of people within a mile of site
• Three burning cars contained cyclohexane, an inhalation hazard

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BROOKS, Kentucky (CNN) -- Rail cars that caught fire after a freight train crash near Louisville, Kentucky, were being allowed to burn throughout the night to destroy hazardous materials inside them, authorities announced Tuesday evening.

The fiery derailment prompted authorities to evacuate everyone within a mile of the wreck as a pall of thick, black smoke began to spread across the town of Brooks, about 20 miles south of downtown Louisville.

"This could've been a catastrophic accident," National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker said. "The good news, thus far, is that it hasn't been."

A Kentucky National Guard unit, the 41st Civil Support Team, was called in to assist with the scene and help determine what chemicals were burning, said Ploskonka. The unit's members are trained in biological and chemical detection, she said.

Eleven people who sought treatment at hospitals after the crash were released, authorities said Tuesday night. (Watch aerial view of flames and smoke )

The two-person train crew escaped unhurt, railroad spokesman Gary Cease said.

The crash occurred shortly before 9 a.m. The 80-car CSX train was bound for Louisville from Birmingham, Alabama, with 12 cars carrying hazardous materials, Cease said.

The crash set ablaze three cars loaded with cyclohexane, a solvent used to produce paint, nylon and resins, said Jason Keller, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Emergency Management. Cyclohexane can affect the central nervous system if inhaled or ingested.

"It's flammable, explosive and an inhalation hazard," Keller said.

Fire crews trying to douse the blaze with water were asked to pull back from the site due to the risk of another explosion, said Nikki Ploskonka, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management.

"I turned around and looked, and there was fire at least 500 feet in the air," Daymon Strange told The Associated Press, adding that he heard an explosion and smelled the fumes.

"You can taste it and feel it in your lungs when you go outside," he said.

The fire spread to other cars and across hundreds of yards of grassland along the track. Fire Chief Rob Orkies said dikes will be built to contain the water used to fight the blaze, because it is now contaminated.

A tank car loaded with methyl ethyl ketone -- another solvent that causes skin and respiratory irritation -- and a boxcar full of some type of cardboard were still burning Tuesday evening, Orkies said.

"The tank car that's burning will continue to burn. We're not even going to put out any effort to extinguish that fire," Orkies said. "We have to let it burn. Once it's burned out, then we'll go in and start attempting to extinguish the boxcar that's on fire."

Other hazardous chemicals aboard the train included aniline, which can be fatal if swallowed or inhaled; butadiene, which can damage the central nervous system; and maleic anhydride, methionine, polyethylene and sulfuric acid, all of which can cause serious health effects from exposure.

Art Smith, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency, said some chemicals may have leaked into a nearby creek, and authorities have taken steps to prevent them from reaching the Salt River.

Meanwhile, air monitoring sensors have detected little or no sign of contamination downwind of the crash site, he said.

The cause of the crash had not been determined. Rosenker said the NTSB would begin its investigation once the fire was out and emergency crews considered the scene to be safe.

The only school in the crash area, Brooks Elementary, moved its students to another school in a safe zone, Ploskonka said.

The blaze also forced authorities to close portions of two highways, state Route 1020 and Interstate 65.

And the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a temporary flight restriction for planes at Louisville International Airport, spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

The rule forced planes to use another runway at the airport, which is about 10 miles north of Brooks and home to a UPS hub.

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