GLENDORA — Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) arrived Sunday to examine the wreckage of a Canadian National Railway (CN) train on which 13 cars derailed and a tanker containing a dangerous chemical ruptured and caught fire, perhaps from an explosion, leading to the forced evacuation of the village's roughly 150 residents.
"NTSB is investigating the July 5 derailment and hazardous material release involving a Canadian National freight train around 2:30 p.m. near Glendora," said Keith Holloway, public affairs officer for NTSB's Office of Rail, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials.
"The investigators are beginning the process of documenting the scene and examining the train and equipment involved," Holloway added.
He said a preliminary report will be available within 30 days.
"The preliminary report will contain factual information gathered during the initial phase of the investigation," Holloway noted. "A probable cause of the crash along with any contributing factors will be detailed in the final report, which is expected in 12-24 months."
Holloway said that witnesses to the accident "or anyone who might have surveillance video or other information that could be relevant to the investigation" are asked to contact the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov.
He noted that NTSB did not yet know the total number of railway cars on the train. A spokesperson for CN had referred questions about the train's makeup, as well as its points of origination and destination, to the NTSB.
An official at the scene said two CN employees on the train did not sustain injury, noting the derailment occurred far behind the locomotive where they were stationed.
Glendora residents reported hearing a "boom" about 30 minutes before they were ordered to immediately evacuate their homes by law enforcement and firefighters who went door to door in the village, which straddles the railroad tracks.
After the incident, then stationary cars from the freight train blocked both the north and south railroad crossings in Glendora, and first responders had to take a county back road to reach the scene of the accident roughly a half-mile south of the village.
Fire trucks, water tankers and other emergency vehicles traversed a narrow strip of dusty turnrow separating the elevated track at the site of the derailment and fire from a soybean field on the east side of the railroad.
Tallahatchie County Emergency Management Agency Director Thad Roberts said Saturday that the flaming tanker contained "benzene benzol," a highly flammable and carcinogenic liquid.
Tallahatchie County Fire Coordinator Linnie Maples said a pair of hazmat response technicians from Coahoma County fire services were dispatched to the scene shortly after the train accident.
Over the course of nine or 10 hours, Maples said about a dozen different fire departments sent equipment and personnel to help contain the fire, which sent a pale of thick, black smoke into the air. Most of it appeared to be carried by the wind in a southeasterly direction, away from Glendora.
Some 25-30 firefighting vehicles, a combination of pumper and water tanker trucks, supported the effort to spray down the flaming railway car, as well as to wet nearby railway cars laying on the ground at the base of the elevated train track.
The water snuffed out flames that had spread to tall grasses below the track but could not douse the chemical fire.
Maples said CN brought in a fire response trailer specifically designed to combat hazmat fires by utilizing water provided by local fire department vehicles and a specialized Class B foam applied at a high volume to basically smother the fire.
He said the fire was finally extinguished about midnight and the last of the local firetrucks left the scene about 1:30 a.m.
Taking cues from CN officials on-site, Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly gave the "all clear" signal for Glendora residents to return to their homes during a radio transmission from a firetruck at 11:43 p.m. Saturday, according to a dispatcher at the Tallahatchie County Jail in Sumner who reviewed radio logs.
Reciting the list from memory, Maples said Tallahatchie County firefighting units from Cascilla, Paynes, Philipp, Rosebloom, Sharkey-Hampton Lake, Tutwiler and Webb Westside responded to the fire.
He noted that other units from Leflore and Sunflower counties also contributed, saying that Minter City, Money and Schlater sent four trucks apiece and Sunflower County sent six trucks, two of which came from the Inverness Volunteer Fire Department, about 50 miles away.
