(The Associated Press circulated the following article on January 11.)
GRANITEVILLE, S.C. — Volunteer firefighter Dwayne Gray didn’t hesitate to respond when he heard the siren early Thursday morning signaling a train wreck that killed nine people and injured hundreds in this small textile town.
Gray, 35, ran to his pickup and headed to the wreck, driving into a cloud of chlorine gas. Gray recognized the greenish tint from his hazardous materials training and immediately backed up his truck to leave, but he wasn’t quick enough.
By the end of the morning, Gray’s lungs had collapsed and he was under critical watch at the Medical College of Georgia. He survived but faces a battle ahead.
Gray and others injured from inhaling the toxic gas could face long-term reduced lung capacity, respiratory therapist Brian Meister said.
Of the more than 250 people who received treatment after being exposed to the chlorine gas, 29 remained hospitalized Monday, with four in critical condition.
Crews began the long process of unloading toxic chlorine from a damaged rail car Monday, a day after the leak was temporarily patched.
The car was damaged when a Norfolk Southern train hit parked railroad cars early Thursday morning.
Workers continued Monday to mix the chlorine gas with sodium hydroxide to turn the gas into liquid bleach, which can be safely pumped out of the car, said Thom Berry, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
About 30 tons of chlorine remain left in the car; about 60 tons have leaked, Berry said.
Two other cars containing chlorine remain at the crash site, but they are not leaking.
Norfolk Southern spokeswoman Susan Terpay said officials will begin laying railroad tracks to bring in tank cars that will hold the chlorine being transferred from the damaged cars.
Environmental sampling was being conducted Monday to test water quality on nearby Langley Pond and Horse Creek.
The mandatory evacuation remained in effect for the 1-mile radius from the crash site until at least Wednesday.
There also is a dusk-to-dawn curfew for the evacuation area.
Debbie Hersman, a spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said crash investigators would like to interview the conductor of the train that crashed into the parked cars, but he remained hospitalized in “bad shape.”
Investigators have determined that the three-man crew that had parked a two-car train on a side rail failed to switch the tracks back to the main rail.
That sent the oncoming train hurtling into the parked train.