Rail cars carrying hazardous material that derailed early Friday were still burning more than 12 hours later in a remote area of North Dakota, but officials said no one was hurt and the threat to those living nearby appeared to be minimal.
Twenty-nine cars of a CPKC train derailed around 3:45 a.m. in a marshy area surrounded by farmland that’s about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of Fargo, said Andrew Kirking, emergency management director for Foster County.
By late afternoon Friday, responders were able to “go on the offensive” in fighting the flames and have had “some success knocking the fire down,” Mr. Kirking said. With water on both sides of the tracks, officials were still working to get equipment close enough.
The cars were carrying anhydrous ammonia, sulfur and methanol, said Bill Suess, spill investigation program manager for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. The ammonia was the biggest risk, but wind was carrying the smoke away from the nearby town of Bordulac, which has about 20 residents.
“Wind has been in our favor on this,” Mr. Suess said. “That risk has greatly subsided. Still there—as long as fires are burning.”
Hellbound and Down 