(The following appeared on the Bismarck Tribune website on July 10, 2010.)
BISMARCK, N.D. — A Burlington Northern Santa Fe train derailment east of Bismarck on Saturday left about 30 rail cars full of coal twisted and piled along the banks of Apple Creek.
No one was injured in the derailment. Burleigh Country Rural Fire and other emergency personnel responded to the derailment between 66th Street and 93rd Street about 4 p.m.
“None of the train crew was injured. There were no injuries. The engine did not leave the tracks,” Burleigh County Sheriff’s Deputy Trent Wangen said. “All the cars that derailed were coal cars.”
The location of the derailment is mainly pasture land and farmland, Wangen said. The closest home is about a quarter-mile from the derailment, he said, and Apple Creek also is about a quarter-mile away.
“There was no property damage other than property damage to BNSF,” he said.
The derailment temporarily blocked a crossing near 93rd Street until the car was moved. It also caused a slow-spreading grass fire that covered two acres. Although the location made it difficult for firefighters to find access to the fire on the south side of the derailment, it was quickly contained.
All emergency personnel cleared the scene by 7:00 p.m. BNSF crews are cleaning up the site, which is on the railroad’s main line, and are investigating the cause of the wreck, Wangen said. The coal train was headed east but he did not know its exact destination.
“That is a main line for BNSF, so they have equipment en route,” he said. Representatives for BNSF could not be reached Saturday to comment on a repair timeline.