5:35am: The American Red Cross has opened a shelter at Holy Family Elementary School for people who were evacuated from a mobile home park near the derailment. ARC is also supplying canteening for the responders.
4:50am: Firefighters remain on the scene of a 12-car train derailment just east of the Highway 183 and 8th Street junction. Incident Commander Kerry McCue, Ellis County Emergency Medical Services Director, says “it’s going to be a long operation, probably 12 to 15 more hours before the fire is out.”
Officials now know 12 cars containing general freight cargo are on their side. The 80-car train, believed to be Union Pacific, was westbound when it apparently struck a train car on the track. McCue says the fire involves a full load of diesel fuel powering the engines and is not subject to explosion.
The three train engineers are not injured.
There is no danger to the public, says McCue, although a 900-square-foot area surrounding the incident site is closed to traffic and a handful of local businesses will not be able to open later this morning.
3:40am: Officials have determined there is no danger of explosions because the train was not carrying any pressurized tanks
3:34a.m. Train engineers are accounted for and safe; no injuries to them.
3:24a.m.: Ellis County EMS Director Kerry McCue tells Hays Post News there is no ethanol leak from the 40 derailed train cars. The train was carrying ethanol tanks but those did not derail. Emergency and haz-mat crews are fighting fires from the diesel fuel which powers the train engines.
2:59am: A trailer park south of the derailment has been evacuated as a precaution.
About 40 train cars are derailed near Canterbury Drive and Old Highway 40.
2:49a.m.: A law enforcement officer blocking traffic from the scene tells Hays Post News there are concerns the derailed train, near Vine Street and Old Highway 40, might explode. It’s believed to be carrying ethanol and coal.
2:19a.m.: A train has apparently derailed in the vicinity of 8th and Vine Streets in Hays about an hour ago. Bystanders report seeing fire in that area, which remains completely blocked off by law enforcement officials at this time.
Hays Post will have more details as they become available.
(Pictures by Harrison Brent, Bill Ring, Becky Kiser)
