(The Associated Press circulated the following article on March 4.)
CHANDLER, Texas — Twenty-eight cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Sunday afternoon just west of the Neches River in Henderson County.
No injuries were reported but some nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution when a fire broke out, Henderson County Sheriff’s Lt. Pat McWilliams said. Evacuations also took place in Smith County. Residents were allowed to return to their homes Sunday night.
Joe Arbona, a spokesman for Union Pacific, said Sunday night a grass fire that appeared unconnected to the derailment but may have involved some rail ties had been extinguished.
Some lubricant oil had leaked from one of the cars. But there were no toxic inhalants in the 28 cars that derailed. The cars were carrying a variety of things and some were empty, Arbona said.
Greg Morgan, operations manager for Tyler Water Utilities, said in a story in Sunday’s online edition of the Tyler Morning Telegraph that the city shut down its Lake Palestine water treatment plant as a precaution because some material spilled into the lake. He said the city’s other plants had enough water to handle the demand for now.
Union Pacific crews were en route to help with the cleanup. The cars were part of a 115-car train headed from Shreveport, La., to Houston, Arbona said.
The derailment occurred just west of the river and south of State Highway 31 east of Chandler, McWilliams said.
Union Pacific Railroad is based in Omaha, Neb.