(The following story appeared on The News-Record website on September 1, 2009.)
GILLETTE, Wyo. — Fears of a bomb on a Union Pacific Railroad train docked near Belle Ayr mine were quickly defused Tuesday morning, after multiple agencies responded to the scene.
Deputies, firefighters and the bomb squad were dispatched at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday to the Bishop Road a half mile from Belle Ayr coal mine after they received a report of a suspected bomb on the train.
The train had completed a loading operation at the mine, and was parked one mile from the mine’s facilities.
The two-person train crew evacuated the train, and the Campbell County Fire Department was on standby at about 9 a.m. as they waited for bomb technicians, Sheriff Bill Pownall said.
At 9:30 a.m., the fire team moved in, bringing along a Regional Response Team mobile trailer and a fire engine.
A row of service vehicles sat backed up at the entrance to Belle Ayr as the emergency response unfolded, waiting for an update on the situation.
By 10:45 a.m., Pownall said it became clear that there was no bomb on the train, and fire and EMS teams were released from the scene. From what Pownall had heard from the dispatch center, workers on the train had found a bag and called it in as a potential bomb.
Steven Laird, spokesman for Alpha Coal West, confirmed that there was no bomb and no threat to workers.
The two Union Pacific employees followed proper procedures in notifying their dispatchers and local law enforcement once the suspicious package was found, said Mark Davis, Union Pacific spokesman.
Bomb scares on trains do not happen often, but both the railroad company and local law enforcement take each incident seriously, Davis said.