The Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office and area firefighters responded about 1:00 a.m. Friday, March 10, 2017 to a train derailment and fire near Graettinger, Iowa — about 160 miles northwest of Des Moines.
Residents were evacuated from the area, and flames were visible from as far as eight miles away.
Palo Alto County emergency management director Mark Hunefeld reported no people are injured. Hunefeld said at least 27 cars derailed, including the burning tanks that he believes were loaded with ethanol.
The freight train totaled 101 railcars, and eight of the railcars were still burning as of 7:00 a.m. Friday morning.
Freight train derailment and fire in Palo Alto County, Iowa https://t.co/ztLPEkRXbO pic.twitter.com/sYeY2D49KL
— Tia Heidebrecht (@TiaKTIV4) March 10, 2017
Several of the cars are still on fire. Crews are letting the fire burn as of now. pic.twitter.com/vsdtmyI41P
— Ashly Richardson (@AshlyKTIV4) March 10, 2017
Stay informed with news from The Cardinal’s Emergencies Behind the Scenes Facebook page — Facebook.com/CardinalEmergencies. Includes links to favorite public safety and emergency rescuers and product manufacturers and safety companies that have facebook pages. Submit your pictures or just stay up-to-date on with fire, rescue, EMS and police photo galleries. Please add your public safety photo to the wall album — go direct to the Arlington Cardinal Emergencies Behind the Scenes photos. For a list of all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages, go to Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …
Help fund The Cardinal Arlingtoncardinal.com/sponsor