As crews continue their cleanup efforts following Tuesday morning’s train derailment, more details are emerging.

The Hays Water Treatment Plant told Hays Post they estimate 1.65 million gallons of water was used in the fire fight.  Hays Fire Chief Gary Brown told Hays Post  approximately 300 gallons of foam concentrate was also used to fight the diesel-fueled fire.  After the fire was extinguished, hazmat crews stepped in to contain any contamination from the fire.  Chief Brown said that the concerns stemmed from the diesel and oil mixed with water, not from the foam used.

“Fire fighting foam is really like a detergent.  It suds up, it lays a film down on the oil, essentially it’s like your dish detergent, but in a super concentrated form.  There’s really no environmental danger from it like you might expect from other chemicals.”

Chief Brown stressed that this is another reminder that people need to be cautious with their water use.

“The water plant, the water mains, the water distribution system, the fire hydrant system, the storage of water the city has, really met the needs for this very big incident.  When you have this kind of emergency happen, you want to have the water to control it.  People need to be cautious with their water use because we’ve had to use a lot for this emergency.”