A major fire from a train derailment in Kentucky was extinguished Thursday afternoon, a day after the incident caused hazardous chemicals to leak, officials said.
The blaze near the town of Livingston was put out around 12:30 p.m., Kentucky Emergency Management interim director Dustin Heiser told reporters, who added that earlier evacuation orders were lifted as of 4 p.m. local time.
Air monitoring reports done with oversight from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found “no detectable readings in the town of Livingston since 7 a.m” following the derailment, which involved two cars carrying molten sulfur, Heiser said.
Around 16 train cars were involved in the incident, according to CSX, which operates the train.
In addition to the two cars that caught on fire, two cars carrying magnesium hydroxide were involved but there was no indication that these cars were breached, according to CSX. The remaining cars were either empty or carrying non-hazardous products like grain or plastic, according to the company.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in Rockcastle County and urged residents to evacuate.
Some nearby residents told ABC affiliate WTVQ they were startled by the crash and rushed to safety. Evelyn Gray told the station her boyfriend came home and said they had to leave immediately.
“As soon as he opened the back door to come in the chemical hit me and I had a real bad asthma attack. I do suffer from asthma,” Gray said.
Cindy Bradley said she is scared because she doesn’t know how long until she can return home.
“This could be tonight. It could be three weeks. Who knows?” she told WTVQ.
CSX said it would provide affected residents with food, lodging and necessities throughout the day including Thanksgiving dinner at no cost.
The cause of the derailment and fire are still under investigation.
“CSX teams will now focus on recovering the product on the ground and removing the derailed cars,” CSX said in a statement.
Heiser said the remaining train cars have been removed. The next steps are now building a roadway at the site to remove the cars and clean the spilled contents, according to Heiser.
