By Tom Chorneau and Lynda Gledhill
The San Francisco Chronicle (California)
Copyright 2006 San Francisco Chronicle
All Rights Reserved
BAXTER, Calif. — One person was killed and another was missing after a Union Pacific maintenance train derailed Thursday in a remote area 65 miles northeast of Sacramento.
Eight crew members suffered minor injuries in the wreck, which sparked a fire in the forested area. The train was loaded with thousands of gallons of diesel and hydraulic fuel, but the fire was not expected to spread.
“This is a huge spill — we are in a pristine area, and what we are trying to do is absolutely trying to limit the amount of damage to this area,” said Tina Rose, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
About 100 firefighters from state and local governments were on scene, and they were planning to let the fire burn itself out.
Placer County Sheriff Lt. George Malim confirmed the fatality and said the missing person may be trapped in the wreckage.
A spokesman for Union Pacific, Mark Davis, said there was one Union Pacific employee on the train, which he called a rail grinder train. The remaining crew worked for a contract company, Harsco Track Technologies, based in South Carolina. Ken Julian, a spokesman for the company, said he did not know where the crew was based.
The train consisted of a locomotive and eight cars — two for the crew, one for water and five containing parts of what is called a grinding machine, Davis said. The train’s purpose is to grind worn rail back into shape.
The train was carrying 6,000 gallons of hydraulic fuel and 1,500 gallons of diesel, Rose said.
It was headed to Roseville when six cars derailed, Davis said. He said the cause of the accident is under investigation, which will be conducted by Union Pacific and possibly the Federal Railroad Administration.
The sheriff’s department received a call about the derailment at 11:08 Thursday morning and had to use a plane to find the wreckage, Malim said.
The rail line runs near Interstate 80 and at the point of the accident is in an unpopulated valley below the highway.