by jersey_emt
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/09/train. ... index.html
CNN / AP wrote: Fuel-loaded train derails in California; one dead
POSTED: 10:42 p.m. EST, November 9, 2006
BAXTER, California (AP) -- A maintenance train loaded with thousands of gallons of diesel and hydraulic fuel derailed in the mountains east of Sacramento on Thursday, killing one person, injuring several others and sparking a fire in the heavily forested area.
"This is a huge spill," said Tina Rose, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "That is a lot of hazardous materials."
Authorities confirmed that one person was killed but did not provide any details. Eight others had minor injuries, while another was missing.
"We don't know if that person is trapped," Rose said. "All we know is that person is unaccounted for."
The Union Pacific maintenance crew was working on the tracks about 60 miles east of the state capital when it derailed about 11 a.m. It was carrying 11,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 6,000 gallons of hydraulic fuel, acetylene, oxygen and propane.
Rose said a brush fire that broke out shortly after the derailment was contained, but the fuel continued to burn for hours, pouring thick, black smoke into the air.
The cause of the derailment was unclear late Thursday.
Authorities at the scene said the train carried 10 people -- one Union Pacific employee and nine contract workers. Union Pacific Railroad spokesman Mark Davis said 12 people were aboard the train.
The lone railroad company employee checked in with the company after the derailment and was OK, he said.
The contract workers were employed by Harsco Track Technologies of South Carolina. Company spokesman Ken Julian said he had no information about injured employees or the fatality.
"At this point, it's so sketchy, we don't know much," he said.
The derailment delayed rail traffic on the heavily used east-west route. Seventeen freight and passenger trains use that section of track each day, Davis said.
Amtrak was forced to bus passengers from two trains around the wreckage, located in a canyon about two miles south of Interstate 80. The derailment affected about 259 passengers, said Vernae Graham, an Amtrak spokeswoman in Oakland, California.
Davis said at least six trains had been or would be rerouted Thursday. Union Pacific planned to work through the night to reopen the line by Friday morning.
Daily commuter on New Jersey Transit's North Jersey Coast Line: Avenel -> NYP
