2 injured in Ind. freight train collision; leaking tankers a concern
by Lori Caldwell and Christin Nance Lazerus lcaldwell@post-trib.com cnance@post-trib.com January 6, 2012 4:04PM
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Updated: January 6, 2012 10:05PM
VALPARAISO — Three CSX trains crashed and derailed Friday afternoon, causing a raging fire and leaving a mass of mangled wreckage in Jackson Township.
One of the trains was hauling mostly empty tankers of ethanol. Witnesses said liquid was leaking from some tankers on at least one of the trains. The Porter County Hazardous Materials Team was evaluating the spills as other workers tended to train personnel who were injured.
Two crew members on the second train were transported to Porter hospital in Valparaiso with non-life-threatening injuries, Porter County police spokesman Sgt. Larry LaFlower said. The four crew members aboard the remaining trains were uninjured and able to give statements to investigators.
The collission happened about 1:15 near County Roads 600N and 500E.
LaFlower said two westbound trains collided when the first train stopped and the second struck it from the rear. A train headed in an unknown direction on a parallel track subsequently rolled through the debris from the first crash. The first train had 77 cars and two engines; the second train contained 60 cars and two engines; and the third train had 48 cars and three engines.
Porter County Emergency Management responder Jim Sherrick said the fire was due to diesel fuel on the trains. Sherrick, who lives about a half mile from the collision, rushed to the scene after hearing it on his police scanner. He described the scene as a lot of mangled train cars, stacked upon each other.
“It looked like a kid playing with model trains just decides to crash them into each other,” Sherrick said.
LaFlower said CSX had not confirmed any hazardous materials as leaking from the second and third trains.
The crash occurred northeast of Valparaiso just north of the intersection of County Roads 600N and 500E, which passes over the tracks, so vehicle traffic wasn’t blocked by the trains.
LaFlower said CSX wasn’t sure why the first train stopped and why the subsequent trains weren’t notified of its status.
Emergency personnel were hampered by their inability to reach the fire, which poured thick, black smoke and flames hundreds of feet into the air. The heart of the fire is between two large open fields with no ready access. Since the area doesn’t have hydrant access, tankers from every fire department in the county were regularly going in and out of the area.
Residents who live within 1 mile north and east of the crash were evacuated from the scene. Initially, residents within just half a mile were told to leave the area.
As a precaution, officials considered evacuating nearby Jackson Elementary School, but didn’t because it was time for classes to dismiss. The school contacted parents for children who live in the evacuated area, Duneland School Corp. administration assistant Lynne Jenks said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is handling the investigation into the cause of the two collisions. LaFlower said between 30 and 50 agencies were sent to the scene, including every police and fire department in Porter County, the Lake County Sheriff’s helicopter, the Indiana State Police, and the Federal Railroad Administration.
Friday’s crash occured on the same set of tracks as a single-train derailment in June 2010. That derailment occurred where the tracks cross Old Suman Road between U.S. 6 and County Road 600N.
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