Bordulac North Dakota USA - The Foster and Stutsman counties emergency manager says most of the fire at a derailment site near here was extinguished on Saturday, 6 Jul 2024.
 
Andrew Kirking said in an email update Saturday that occasional flareups have occurred as rail cars are moved by crews.
 
Cleanup operations continue Saturday as train cars are removed and more infrastructure is built back up, he said.
 
The derailment involving at least 20 cars of a CPKC railway company train occurred at about 03:30 10 miles southeast of Carrington, North Dakota, near Bordulac in Foster County.
 
Kirking said officials met, including from CPKC and the National Transportation Safety Board, which arrived at the site on Saturday.
 
Kirking said the contents of the derailed cars involve methanol, anhydrous ammonia, and plastic pellets.
 
The plastic pellets contributed to the dark color of the smoke, he said.
 
Kirking said air monitoring has consistently shown 0.0 percent air contamination in the area.
 
Remote monitoring downwind also shows no contamination and a permanent crew station in Carrington to guarantee safety is reporting negative readings.
 
Carrington is the nearest major population center to the site of the derailment, he noted.
 
The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) report later Friday afternoon reported no impacts to soil or water outside the incident site.
 
The NTSB has assumed responsibility of the crash investigation, Kirking said.
 
Crews worked through the night at the scene, he reported.
 
No injuries have been reported since the derailment occurred.
 
The train was carrying hazardous materials at the time of the derailment, and fires occurred, said Kirking.
 
No injuries were reported to the two-member crew on the train or residents, he said, and multiple fire departments responded to the scene.
 
Kirking issued information in an email late Friday evening, saying responders and contractors would work through the night.
 
The primary goals established at an incident command meeting were to preserve life, safety of residents and responders, stabilize the incident, and minimize environmental impact, he said.
 
He said specific objectives included extinguishing fires, cooling rail cars, removing as much material possible from the cars, and preparing the site for heavy equipment to remove rail cars.
 
The response has employed the use of two pumping trailers to douse the derailed cars, he said.
 
"I would like to commend the efforts of responders, state and federal partners, the selfless aid of mutual aid partners, and the community commitment of Canada Pacific Kansas City Railway for their prompt and proportional response," Kirking said in the email Friday.
 
Author unknown.