(The following story appeared on the KSTP website on September 14, 2010.)
Hager City, Wi. — Pierce County Sheriff Nancy Hove says the train derailment in Hager City, Wisconsin could have been worse.
Initial reports indicated the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) freight train was heading from Chicago to Seattle when it derailed around 7:20 a.m. Monday morning.
Cars derailed between a propane gas factory and the Ralston Purina processing center.
Sheriff Hove says the derailed cars luckily didn’t crash into the propane factory, or the incident would have been a lot worse.
Cars did hit the Purina plant, but the building sustained minimal damage to its siding.
Officials from BNSF say nine cars carrying 62 containers derailed. However, views from CHOPPER 5 reveal as many as 30 cars may have derailed. One car hit an overpass bridge but it wasn’t initially known if there was any damage to the bridge.
According to the railway company, one container carried hazardous material, but no hazardous materials were released. The surrounding area was evacuated as a precaution. There have been no injuries reported.
A spokesperson from BNSF says the railway company inspects their tracks more frequently than is required by the Federal Railway Administration (FRA).
“One derailment is too many,” said BNSF spokesperson Amy McBeth. “We will launch a full investigation.”
Redwing and Ellsworth Fire Departments were on the scene as well as an investigative team from the FRA.
Officials say clean-up will take about 24 hours.
The Pierce County Highway Department says County Road VV has been closed. According to officials, there was no impact on Amtrak lines because it uses a different track through the area.