3 Derailed Alcohol Tank Cars Burn; Shuttle, Pumper Relay Supply Water
photo by Gerald Ewing.
Good information helped and bad information hindered the Abilene, Texas, Fire Department at a Santa Fe Railroad derailment.
At 3:07 p.m. last Feb. 4, a Saturday, the Abilene Fire Department received a call that there was a Santa Fe freight train derailment of about 20 cars, with some tank cars on fire, in the Town of View. The fire was reported under the U.S. Highway 277 overpass, and a second call indicated that the tank cars contained methyl alcohol.
View is about 8 miles southwest of Abilene in Taylor County. The City of Abilene provides fire protection for Taylor County on a contract basis.
The initial response was Engine 6, a 1000-gpm pumper; Tank Truck 336, 1000 gallons; Rescue 1; and Booster 1, with a FIT) pump and a 500-gallon tank. On arrival at 3:17 p.m., Captain Lee Swindle met with the train crew to determine the contents of the several cars which were burning and the contents of the exposed cars. He sent Rescue 1 to the south side of the scene to begin evacuation of View. Engine 6 was sent to the south side of the bridge to stretch two 2½ -inch supply lines to the nearest fire hydrant, about 2200 feet away.
Fire situation
The train crew advised Swindle that three tank cars of methyl alcohol were under the bridge. Two cars (A and B) were leaking and on fire, while the third car (C) was still intact. Two gondola cars (E) containing railroad ties were burning. Three other tank cars (F,G and H) contained methyl alcohol but appeared to be intact and were not exposed to fire. One tank car (D), which was on its side between the burning alcohol cars and the burning railroad ties, was reported to be empty.
Tank Truck 336 stretched one 1½inch from the north side of the railroad tracks to the fire and applied its 1000 gallons of water and the 500 gallons from Booster 1 on the burning ties. At this time, Chief James Pogue was called, and he arrived at 3:25 p.m.
At 3:20, District Chief Nelson requested that Engine 320, a reserve pumper, be manned with off-duty men and sent to the incident and that additional off-duty men be called to stand by in their stations.
Engine 3 was dispatched at 3:33 to fill out the two supply lines stretched by Engine 6. Engine 3 arrived at 3:40 and completed the stretch.
Tanker splits open
At 3:45, the one intact alcohol tank car (C) under the bridge gave a loud whistle. Then the end of the car split open, spilling 23,000 gallons of alcohol onto the fire.
By 3:50, with Engine 6 pumping through two 2200-foot supply lines, water was flowing, but not as much as wanted. Engine 320 arrived and stretched a single 2 ½-inch line 3500 feet from the scene to a farm stock tank, and Engine 3 set up in relay. An additional line was hand-stretched 2000 feet from Engine 320 to the scene. These lines supplied two l’/2-inch nozzles and one 2 ½-inch nozzle, respectively.
Assistance was requested from the Merkel and Tye Fire Departments and t he Dyess Air Force Base. Merkel sent a rescue truck and a tank truck. Tye provided another tanker and Dyess dispatched two more tankers. These units, along with Tank Truck 336, established a tanker shuttle to supply two 1 ½inch lines on the north side of the bridge from a hydrant 2 miles away.
About 5 p.m., the fire was sufficiently knocked down for men to approach it from on top of the bridge. They saw that the tank car that was reported to be empty (D) was labeled “Acetaldehyde Only,” that it had a red placard on it, and that it was burning around the dome. The railroad personnel then agreed that the car was full. This car was permitted to burn at the dome while water was applied to the rest of the car.
By 8:30 p.m., the fire around the alcohol tank cars was out and crews began to inspect closely the remaining tank cars that had been exposed to the fire. They found a broken 2-inch valve on one car (F) and a 2-inch hole in another (G). Both were leaking streams of methyl alcohol. The fire fighters were able to stop both leaks and they continued to apply water to the alcohol to dilute it.
By 3:30 a.m. Sunday, all fire was extinguished, but crews stood by until 10:30. On Sunday afternoon, fire fighters returned to the scene for several hours while railroad personnel transferred the remaining contents of the tank cars.
Information faulty
The accuracy of the information throughout the incident was a problem. The tank car reported to be empty was later found to be full of acetaldehyde. This discovery came more than 1 ½ hours after the car had been reported empty, and nearly two hours after the incident started.
Early in the incident, Swindle was advised that three tank cars filled with propane were in the Fire area. When he was unable to spot them, the train crew stated that those three propane tank cars were still attached to the main body of the train and had been pulled well away from the accident scene.
One corner of a Santa Fe box car (K) was burning and giving off dense clouds of redish orange smoke. After this fire was extinguished the fire fighting crew reported that the car was empty. However, the railroad’s information had indicated that the box car was filled with corrosives.
In spite of these information problems, the initial report of the fire and the followup calls by the railroad provided sufficient and accurate information for the fire department to base its decisions and actions.
