CLEAR LAKE, Iowa — Thick, black smoke was visible from as far away as Manly late Thursday morning after an explosive collision between a diesel tanker truck and a 75-car train in Clear Lake, the Mason City Globe Gazette reported.
Clear Lake Police Chief Dan Jackson called it “a miracle” that the engineer and conductor aboard the train and the driver of the tanker escaped unharmed. According to officials, none of the three men required hospitalization.
“It’s amazing. From the minute we got the call, I could see the smoke from the station. How they got out is amazing,” Jackson said.
The accident was reported at 11:52 a.m. at the North 20th Street rail crossing on a stretch of track owned by the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad. The tangled wreckage of the truck was wrapped around the nose of the scorched locomotive. Pillars of smoke were punctuated by bursts of bright orange and red flames.
The tanker was driven by Corey Wessels, 22, of Denny Wessels Transport Inc. of Buffalo Center, according to Denny Wessels. Witnesses said Wessels, who was northbound on North 20th, failed to stop at the crossing, according to Clear Lake Fire Chief Doug Meyers.
Clear Lake police identified the train crew members as Rusty Bell of Renwick, engineer, and James Brown of Spencer. The North 20th Street crossing is equipped with flashing lights but no crossing gate, according to Jackson. The lights were operating at the time of the collision, authorities said.
The train struck the tanker just behind the cab on the passenger side, pushing the truck about a block to where it came to rest at the crossing at Seventh Avenue North.
“The engineer stated that upon impact it almost instantly burst into flames,” Jackson said.
The tanker was carrying 7,500 gallons of diesel. It had filled up at Williams Pipeline Co. in Clear Lake just prior to the accident. Each of the locomotives on the train carried 4,000 gallons of fuel, Meyers said.
He said approximately two-thirds of the diesel in the tanker was either consumed in the fire or spilled onto the ground. A fire department spokesman said the rest of the fuel remains in the tank and will be removed. The tanks on the locomotives did not catch fire, according to the fire department.
Meyers said the Iowa Department of Natural Resources was called to investigate the possible environmental impact.
Neither a natural gas line that runs underground below the track nor a 65,000-volt power line running above the track was disturbed by the accident, Meyers said.
Firefighters from Clear Lake were hindered by the lack of fire hydrants close to the scene. Meyers said the department ran out of foam to fight the fire and received additional supplies from Mason City and Ventura. He said that, due to cost, small fire departments like Clear Lake don’t normally keep a large supply of foam on hand.
Denny Wessels said he could hardly believe that everyone walked away unharmed.
Wessels said his son had been “driving for a long time.” He said Corey was definitely shaken by the incident but was “getting a little better.” Wessels said he had not had the opportunity to talk with his son in detail about the accident.
Jackson said the train crew had received extensive training for situations such as this.
“They said they were trained to get out within four to five seconds,” Jackson said.
State troopers questioned Wessels Thursday afternoon at the Clear Lake Police Department, Meyers said. The Clear Lake Police Department and the Iowa State Patrol are continuing their investigation.
Cleanup at the crash site was expected to continue well into Thursday night, Jack Wilcox, Clear Lake Fire Department public relations officer, said Thursday evening.