The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. — A train carrying lumber has derailed and struck several tanker cars carrying ethanol, setting off a massive fire that burned for at least two hours in a heavily-wooded area next to a highway northwest of Portland.
Portland fire department spokeswoman Alisa Cour said Wednesday that the derailment forced the evacuation of a half-mile area around the fire. Cour said firefighters were waiting for the blaze to slow, and then would consider measures to protect the area where the train cars crashed.
“We may start (digging protective trenches) when the heat and flames start to die down,” Cour said. “We’re still taking just a defensive position.”
No injuries were reported
April was one of the wettest months on record in Oregon, which could provide some relief to firefighters weary of the timber catching in the blaze.
Fire trucks were spraying the fire from across the highway from turrets mounted on top of the trucks. Cour said the fire department also had boats designed to contain fires on the rivers near the site of the crash.
Oregon Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kimberly Dimwittie warned that state Highway 30, a busy thoroughfare, will likely be backed up with afternoon traffic.
“The later into the day this goes, it’s really going to slow traffic,” Dimwittie said. “People heading back that way are really going to run into delays.”