(The Associated Press circulated the following article on January 16.)
IRVINE, Ky. — Four runaway rail cars struck two parked locomotives Monday in east-central Kentucky, causing a fire and spilling a chemical that prompted a limited evacuation and orders that others stay indoors.
The crash released butyl acetate, a flammable liquid, from a burning tanker car, authorities said. The fire produced a huge column of black smoke, and a section of the Kentucky River where fuel or chemicals had spilled caught fire. No injuries were reported, authorities said.
The fire in the tanker car was extinguished by 3 p.m. EST, and smaller fires in the locomotives would be allowed to burn themselves out, authorities said.
The burning tanker car contained about 30,000 gallons of butyl acetate, said CSX spokesman Gary Sease. Butyl acetate is commonly used as a solvent or as a synthetic fruit flavoring.
Police ordered people in the immediate area to evacuate, and people in others part of Estill County were told to stay indoors, keep their windows closed and to put towels under doors.
Four CSX rail cars left their track shortly before noon and went onto a main rail line, traveling several miles before hitting the parked CSX locomotives, Sease said. CSX placed the locomotives in the path of the runaway tankers to stop them, said Buddy Rogers, a Kentucky Emergency Management spokesman.
Both the locomotives and rail cars were unmanned, Kentucky State Police Maj. Lisa Rudzinski said.