(The following article by Allan Brettman was posted on the Oregonian website on October 6.)
VANCOUVER — Work crews righted two rail cars early Thursday morning that derailed a day earlier, taking special care with a tanker car containing a highly flammable substance.
The cars were upright and back on a track north of the Port of Vancouver at 1:55 a.m., said Gus Melonas, BNSF Railway spokesman. Melonas said the cause remains under investigation.
One of two cars that tipped over contained liquefied petroleum gas — LPG, which is highly flammable and otherwise an irritant for unprotected breathing.
The tanker didn’t leak, but public safety officials took precautions anyway. An emergency operations center was established, and the American Red Cross set up shelters at Hudson’s Bay High School and Discovery Middle School, said Jim Flaherty, Vancouver Fire Department spokesman.
The shelters were prepared to accommodate as many as 1,500 people.
“We were told that the potential for a leak or explosion was minimal,” said Scott Clemetson of the Red Cross, “but that if there is an evacuation, it will be immediate.”
Officials were ready to evacuate about 188 homes in a half-mile radius if the LPG leaked or 1,100 homes in a one-mile radius if a fire broke out, Flaherty said. The derailment occurred adjacent to a hillside bordering the Northwest neighborhood, which is near the Lincoln and Fruit Valley neighborhoods.
Also, public safety officials were prepared to use the reverse 9-1-1 system, in which recorded safety messages are delivered rapidly to phones, Flaherty said.
In addition to the tanker car, a box car also tipped over, and a flatbed car left the tracks.