No injuries have been reported after a BNSF train carrying crude oil derailed near Heimdal, about 115 miles northeast of Bismark, North Dakota. The entire population, about three dozen people, were evacuated.
Wells County Emergency Manager Tammy Roehrich said the derailment occurred at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning one-and-a-half miles east of the town of Heimdal. She said surrounding farmlands were also evacuated.
“I was in the house at 7:15 a.m. when we thought we heard thunder,” witness Jennifer Willis told NBC News. She walked out toward the scene of the accident, an eighth of a mile away and ran into thick, black smoke everywhere.
“It was kinda awesome. It’s kinda scary to hear it. It was like fireworks going off. You could hear little explosions going off. I sat there for 15 minutes and you could hear it going off,” she said.
Cecily Fong, the public information officer for the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services, reported there were 10 tanker cars, a different count than Roehrich’s, who said only six tanker cars were on fire. Fong also added that the engine and cars not burning were uncoupled and moved to safety.
Roehrich could not get close enough to the accident scene to tell if any of the cars were exploding, but she said it looked a lot like Casselton, referring to the 2013 fiery train wreck that occurred on December 20 that year. In that accident, a train hauling grain derailed and slammed into a 108-car train carrying crude oil. Over 10 tank cars caught fire and eventually exploded, The wreck made national headlines.
Another witness, who has a farm nearby the accident scene today, said it appeared that the cars that derailed were at the end of the train. Everett Johnson says the area of the derailment is “kind of a slough area.”
In a statement, BNSF Railway said the tank cars that derailed and burst into flame were targeted for phase-out by 2020 under the new safety rules announced on Friday. Sarah Feinberg, the acting Federal Railroad Administrator said a 10-person team has been sent to North Dakota to investigate the derailment.
According to Newser, the 10 tank cars that ruptured and burst into flames were constructed under a 2011 voluntary rail industry standard intended to make them better able to withstand rupture. But the new cars are proving to be no better than the older ones.
Of the five oil train accidents that have occurred this year (since January 1, 2015), every one of them have involved these newer tank cars, each of them capable of holding 30,000 gallons of oil.
“Today’s incident is yet another reminder of why we issued a significant, comprehensive rule aimed at improving the safe transport of high hazard flammable liquids. The FRA will continue to look at all options available to us to improve safety and mitigate risks,” Feinberg said in the statement.