Repost from KWQC TV6, Davenport IA
[Editor: Good interview at Incident Command location with Galena City Administrator Mark Moran showing smoke plumes in the background. Also separate video of explosions and a segment with ariel video showing crude oil and trees on fire. – RS]
Train derails south of Galena, Ill.
By Jeff Whitten, March 5, 2015, 2:37 pm Updated: March 5, 2015, 6:16 pmGALENA, Ill. – (KWQC) – The Jo Daviess County Sheriff says a train has derailed south of Galena where the Galena River meets the Mississippi River.
We have confirmed that the train was carrying oil. Our news team is near the scene and can see smoke coming from the fire. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tells TV-6 that fire crews were pulled away from the fire because of the danger.
You can also see a large plume of smoke from the live slope cameras located at Chestnut Mountain Ski Resort. Two members of the Coast Guard are also on their way to the scene. Iowa American Water company, which uses the Mississippi River as a source for drinking water, has not been notified of the incident.
BNSF released this statement on the derailment:
A BNSF Railway train derailed at approximately 1:20 pm CST in a rural area south of Galena, IL. There are no injuries reported. The train consists of 105 loaded cars, which includes 103 cars loaded with crude oil and 2 buffer cars loaded with sand. BNSF responders are en route. No further information is available at this time.