AMITE, La. — A quiet Saturday afternoon turned to chaos around 2 p.m. after a train derailment dumped 19 freight cars and hydrochloric acid just a few blocks south of Amite’s downtown area, the Daily Star reported.
The zig-zag wreckage from the Canadian National train stretched about a mile parallel to U.S. Highway 51 from one block south of Magnolia Street to just north of Clemons Forest Products. Wrecked cars were lying on either side of the track, and some were left on the tracks but at right angles.
Some residents had been evacuated to Roseland Elementary School. Initially there were between 300 and 400 people at the school, but the number dwindled to around 30 by 8 p.m., according to Patti Giannoble, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson.
Parish President Gordon Burgess declared a state of emergency late Saturday afternoon as officials continued to assess the damage and risks of more spills.
A helicopter brought back pictures of the wreckage, which revealed at least one tank car leaking hydrochloric acid and another that may be leaking.
HazMat specialists entered the wreck area around 8 p.m. Saturday night. Officials hoped to discover how much material had leaked and whether or not any other cars were in danger of leaking material.
State Trooper Omar Landrum said it was too soon to tell how much material had spilled, how long it would take to clean up the site or when nearby residents could return to their homes.
“The whole issue right now is to make sure the situation stays contained,” Landrum said.
Train Master J.R. Kyzar was on the scene within an hour of the wreck, but he could offer little additional information.
“Our concern right now is to make sure that all the citizens are safe,” Kyzar said. In addition to HazMat teams, state Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Entergy officials were part of the effort to evaluate the situation.
Hydrochloric acid may cause respiratory problems for those exposed to the fumes. According to Landrum, two residents were taken to North Oaks Medical Center with respiratory problems. No information was available Saturday night on their condition.
Less than an hour after the wreck, dozens of law enforcement and fire department agencies from all over the parish converged on the scene, setting up road blocks to keep people away from the site.
Amite Fire Chief Bruce Cutrer called for a mandatory evacuation for those in a half-mile radius of the wreck, including homes and numerous businesses on U.S. 51.
Traffic was blocked along a roughly five-block area initially, but the roadblock soon grew to include a three-block deep stretch from the east side of the tracks and state Highway 16 to Clemons and a two-block deep stretch of the same length on the west side.
Dawn Howell and her infant daughter, Morgan, had just returned from shopping to her South Central Avenue home next to the tracks around 3 p.m. when officers told her she had to leave.
Her car was blocked by emergency vehicles, so she walked out with her baby and an armful of formula.
“I guess I’ll go to my grandmother’s house,” she said. “But I don’t know if it’s far enough away.”
Donald Ray Walker, 51, was in his car and crossing the track when the accident occurred. He said he heard a big “whoosh” and stopped to look.
“I was choking,” he said, adding that he saw a kind of fog coming from the wreckage and left when an officer said he had to move.
The Parish Office of Emergency Management was opened, with Burgess and numerous other officials waiting through much of the night to hear from the assessment team.
TPSO, Amite Fire, Hammond HazMat and numerous other local agencies set up a command post and stayed poised to lend their aid.
Burgess praised Cutrer, TPSO Chief Deputy Chippy Fitz, the State Police and all the other agencies that stepped up to help.
“That’s one good thing we have with the different agencies, that they just pitch right in and just give mutual aid,” Burgess said.