Flames can be seen from the air after an explosion happened at the sight of a train derailment in southern Jefferson County, just south of Louisville, Ky, Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012.LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The blaze that authorities initially said would end in a couple of hours instead spewed flames and smoke from a derailed tanker car for a second day Thursday with no end in sight, as crews scrambled to prevent it from igniting railcars loaded with toxic chemicals nearby.
Hundreds of people have had to evacuate, including the entire town of West Point and some people from the outskirts of Louisville. The burning butadiene, a chemical commonly found in rubber used to make tires, can damage the central nervous and reproductive systems. Workers were hosing down other railcars nearby filled with another corrosive chemical, hydrogen fluoride, which can cause severe respiratory damage.
All the water used to keep those cars cool, however, raised fears that contaminated water could wash into the confluence of the Salt and Ohio rivers. The Environmental Protection Agency was monitoring water quality and quickly erecting a dam to keep out contaminated water.
“This is as bad as it gets as far as a haz-mat incident, if it were to be released,” said Art Smith, an emergency coordinator with the EPA.
Three workers were hospitalized after the blaze ignited while they used a torch Wednesday to try to separate derailed train cars.