2008 Woodie Awards
Emergency services rally in wake of train derailment
Kelly Janis
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: Local News
- Page 1 of 4 next >
As the dust settles in the wake of the Oct. 22 derailment of a freight train in downtown Middlebury, the numerous local agencies instrumental in the ensuing response and clean-up are taking stock of their performance, and looking toward the future with a newly-honed conception of their strengths and weaknesses.
The 25-car train was traveling from Albany, N.Y., to Burlington, Vt., when it derailed at 1:54 p.m. near the Merchants Row overpass. Sixteen of the train's cars - which, when loaded with fuel, weigh approximately 125 tons - overturned as what is tentatively considered the result of a faulty track. Two of the 16 cars contained rock salt. The others contained thousands of gallons of gasoline.
Middlebury Fire Chief Richard Cole became aware of the derailment after receiving a phone call at work. "I really didn't know what to expect," he said. "We were told that we had a train derailment with fire. Of course, we had no idea what the cars contained until we got there."
Upon arriving on the scene, Cole and his colleagues were encouraged by their immediate observation that the associated fire was relatively small. "And then, shortly after that, we realized that it was all gasoline, which is not good with fire," he said.
"Those cars contained a total of about 375,000 gallons of gasoline," Middlebury Chief of Police Thomas Hanley said. "Now, you can only imagine what would have happened if any of that had ignited."
Correcting what he perceived to be a popular misconception, Cole explained that the fire started not on account of the gasoline, but due likely to friction between the train's wheels and the grass.
Ultimately, Cole said, "we were able to contain the fires very rapidly."
Containing the fire, however, did little in the way of expunging concern for the public's welfare.
The 25-car train was traveling from Albany, N.Y., to Burlington, Vt., when it derailed at 1:54 p.m. near the Merchants Row overpass. Sixteen of the train's cars - which, when loaded with fuel, weigh approximately 125 tons - overturned as what is tentatively considered the result of a faulty track. Two of the 16 cars contained rock salt. The others contained thousands of gallons of gasoline.
Middlebury Fire Chief Richard Cole became aware of the derailment after receiving a phone call at work. "I really didn't know what to expect," he said. "We were told that we had a train derailment with fire. Of course, we had no idea what the cars contained until we got there."
Upon arriving on the scene, Cole and his colleagues were encouraged by their immediate observation that the associated fire was relatively small. "And then, shortly after that, we realized that it was all gasoline, which is not good with fire," he said.
"Those cars contained a total of about 375,000 gallons of gasoline," Middlebury Chief of Police Thomas Hanley said. "Now, you can only imagine what would have happened if any of that had ignited."
Correcting what he perceived to be a popular misconception, Cole explained that the fire started not on account of the gasoline, but due likely to friction between the train's wheels and the grass.
Ultimately, Cole said, "we were able to contain the fires very rapidly."
Containing the fire, however, did little in the way of expunging concern for the public's welfare.
Be the first to comment on this story