By Theodore Decker and Summer Ballentine,
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — As yesterday’s fiery train derailment near the state fairgrounds smoldered into the night, a team of federal investigators prepared for what likely will be a lengthy search for a cause.
Late last night, officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said they expect to be in Columbus for at least a week to investigate the wreck. And it could be more than a month before they have an answer.
What they do know already: The crash didn’t occur because the train was speeding. Earl Weener of the NTSB said that an “event recorder” on the train -- similar to a “black box” on a plane -- shows the train was going 23 mph when it derailed on a curve. The recommended speed for that curve, he said, is 25 mph.
Weener also said that the track gets an ultrasonic inspection three times a year, and the most recent for that stretch just north of Downtown was in April. Railroad officials drove along the track on Monday.
When calls to 911 began rolling in to emergency dispatchers just after 2 a.m. yesterday, frightened residents reported everything from a plane crash to a structure fire at the nearby Central Ohio Transit Authority building that houses much of its bus fleet.
But arriving firefighters soon learned they were faced with a derailed train, cars that had tumbled from the tracks in a sharp turn, and a hiss escaping from tankers that suggested an explosion was imminent.
The ensuing blast shook residents awake and sent a plume of fire towering into the night sky, triggering a massive emergency response that likely will mean firefighters will still be there this morning.
Two people were reported injured and about 100 residents of nearby Weinland Park had to be evacuated after the southbound Norfolk Southern train from Chicago to North Carolina went off the tracks on a curve within view of the fairgrounds’ 11th Avenue entrance.
Norfolk Southern said 16 of the train’s 98 cars left the tracks, including three that fire officials said were carrying the 90,000 gallons of ethanol that led to the explosion and fire.
Other derailed cars were loaded with corn syrup and grain. Fire officials said that tankers loaded with the hazardous chemical styrene fortunately were at the rear of the train and stayed on the tracks.
They were later hauled away by another train. The train’s crew was not hurt in the derailment and managed to unhook two locomotives and three unaffected cars and move those to safety.
Officials said the two people who were injured had walked onto the tracks to see what had happened when the explosion occurred. They drove themselves to a hospital, and Battalion Chief Michael Fowler classified their injuries as “very minor.”
The Fire Division used the Norfolk Southern cargo manifests onboard to determine what was being hauled.
“We had a good idea within 30 minutes of what we were dealing with,” Fowler said.
There are no long-term health issues that residents should be concerned about, according to officials handling the cleanup. Residents within a 1-mile radius of the derailment were evacuated in the middle of the night. By midafternoon, everyone had been allowed to go home.
Weener said last night that it will be at least two to three days before the derailed cars can be removed and the tracks reopened.
The threat of an explosion required a wide berth yesterday morning.
“Those rail cars can fly a mile,” Fire Division Assistant Chief Dave Whiting said.
Nicholas Goodrich, 35, said he and some friends had been hanging out in a Weinland Park alley when they heard the screech of steel and thumps as the cars derailed. By the time they got up on the tracks, the fire was already burning, he said.
“The heat was so intense, it was suffocating,” he said. “It felt like it was 400 degrees. The heat was shaking me, like wind was blowing.”
Weinland Park resident Milton Jones also ran to the crash site.
“I just basically thought, ‘What if that was somebody’s son? Somebody’s got someone they love on that train,’ ” said Jones, 22.
His friend, Brad Epps, 33, pulled Jones to relative safety minutes before an explosion filled the night with a piercing light. Epps said the flash was so bright he could barely see for several minutes.
“It looked like hell,” Epps said. “I thought the world was ending.”
Epps escaped unscathed, but Jones wasn’t as lucky.
Shiny splotches on his back marked where ointment soothed Jones’ burns.
“I came home and tried to put water on my back,” Jones said. “It felt like I was on fire.”
Fire officials and Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman said it was fortunate that the derailment occurred in an area of the city with few people around at that time of night. The nearby fairgrounds and commercial areas were mostly empty, and the neighborhood directly affected was a small area.
“It made a big difference that we didn’t have it on top of people,” Fowler said. “In 2½ weeks from now, the state fair is here.”
Coleman praised the emergency response and said the city would seek reimbursement from Norfolk Southern for costs associated with it.
Although the contents of the rail cars burned all day, Whiting said that allowing them to burn was wiser than trying to put them out. Dousing an ethanol fire requires a special foam that carries environmental risks, and crews feared that extinguishing the remaining fuel might produce a build-up of fumes and lead to another explosion, Fowler said.
By late afternoon, most streets surrounding the site had reopened. COTA buses, which had been delayed for rush-hour commuters, had resumed regular service by 4 p.m., and the National Transportation Safety Board team of investigators had begun their work.
Rumpke’s yard-waste and recycling service will remain affected throughout the week because its facility near the derailment site was evacuated. Rumpke customers will see service delayed by one day, with residents in Franklin, Delaware and Union counties, as well as the city of Pickerington, affected.
Norfolk Southern will open an assistance center at 717 E. 17th Ave. for anyone affected by the derailment from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today. For more information, call 1-800-230-7049.
Weinland Park resident Damron Shelby said he had to sleep in his car with a friend and his 3-year-old daughter after he was evacuated from his home on 6th Street.
They spent yesterday morning at a Bob Evans before police said it was safe to go home again.
“I could see my home, but I couldn’t go in it,” Shelby said. “I felt like a refugee.”
Dispatch reporter Jim Woods contributed to this story.
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