Minnesota train derailment – latest: Governor visits Raymond after ethanol in cars catch fire

The freight train was carrying ethanol and corn syrup

Train wreck engulfed by flames after 22-carriage derailment in Minnesota

Residents of a small town in Minnesota were allowed back home late on Thursday morning after being evacuated due to a fiery freight train derailment.

People in Raymond, 100 miles west of Minneapolis, had been ordered to leave in the early hours on Thursday.

Some 22 cars, carrying ethanol and corn syrup, came off the tracks. Several cars burst into flames, according to the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office.

Residents in the immediate vicinity were ordered to leave their homes, and a half-mile evacuation zone was set up around the crash site.

BNSF Railway, the company which owns the train, told The Independent there were no other hazardous materials on the train and no injuries as a result of the incident.

Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz said on Thursday morning that he had been briefed on the train derailment and would visit the site.

The Minnesota train derailment is the latest in at least half a dozen railroad incidents across the US in as many weeks.

Key Points

• Minnesota Governor visiting site of derailment
• Residents of Raymond moved outside of evacuation zone

[30 March 2023 18:10 · Louise Boyle]

Is ethanol harmful to the environment?

The derailed train was carrying the hazardous substance, ethanol, according to public officials.

Ethanol is used widely in gasoline in the US to reduce air pollution from the fossil fuel, and to produce biofuels, according to the Department of Energy.

Pure ethanol is nontoxic and biodegradable, and if spilled, break down into harmless substances, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

However, the EIA notes that similar to petroleum fuels, “biofuels are flammable (especially ethanol) and must be transported carefully”.

However when burned, pure biofuels generally produce fewer emissions of particulates, sulfur dioxide, and air toxics than fossil fuel products, EIA noted.

[30 March 2023 18:30 · Louise Boyle]

Watch: Residents evacuated after fiery Minnesota crash

[30 March 2023 18:50 · Louise Boyle]

Residents allowed to return home

Residents of a small town in Minnesota were allowed back to their homes late on Thursday morning after being evacuated due to the fiery rail crash.

Local people from Raymond, a town of around 700 people about 100 miles west of Minneapolis, were given the all-clear at 11am.

Local people had been taking shelter at a school and a church in nearby Prinsburg, CBS reported.

Road detours remained in place, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, with Highway 23 closed from Kandiyohi County Road 1 to Chippewa County Road 1.

[30 March 2023 19:10 · Louise Boyle]

Train derails in rural North Dakota and spills chemicals

Earlier this week, another train came off the rails in rural North Dakota as focus intensifies on railroad safety issues across the US.

The Canadian Pacific train derailed on Sunday, 26th March, outside of Wyndmere, a town of several hundred people about 60 miles southwest of Fargo.

While there was a spill of hazardous materials, local authorities and the railroad said there was no threat to public safety.

Canadian Pacific spokesperson Andy Cummings said 31 of the 70 cars on the train, including several carrying hazardous materials, left the tracks around 11.15pm on Sunday.

Four cars filled with liquid asphalt and two railcars filled with ethylene glycol spilled some of those chemicals in the derailment. And Cummings said a car carrying propylene was punctured and released some vapor.

It wasn’t immediately clear how much of the chemicals were released, but there are no waterways nearby and the chemical spills were contained at the site of the derailment.

Associated Press

[30 March 2023 19:28 · Louise Boyle]

Governor visits train derailment site

Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz has visted the site of the train derailment in Raymond to survey the damage and meet with local officials.

“Our multi-agency emergency response will continue working on the ground to protect the health and safety of Raymond,” he tweeted.

[30 March 2023 20:00 · Louise Boyle]

Pictured: The trainwreck in snow-covered Minnesota

The BNSF freight train was carrying ethanol and corn syrup when it derailed in rural Minnesota (AP)