http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/07/0...ssee-prompting-evacuations/?intcmp=latestnews
MARYVILLE, Tenn. – A car on a CSX train carrying a flammable and toxic substance derailed and caught fire in eastern Tennessee, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people within a 2-mile radius.
Blount County Fire Department Lt. Johnny Leatherwood said a call about the train derailment came in Wednesday night at 11:50 p.m. EDT in Maryville.
The fire was still burning at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, Blount County firefighter Kermit Easterling said.
About 5,000 people in the area were being evacuated along with several businesses, Leatherwood said. Also, a manufacturing plant, Denso Manufacturing, closed down Thursday morning because of its proximity to the derailment, Easterling said.
In a statement, CSX said the train car that derailed was carrying acrylonitrile, a hazardous material used in a variety of industrial processes including making plastics. The substance is flammable and is dangerous if inhaled, CSX said.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency's website, some effects of breathing acrylonitrile include headaches, dizziness, irritability and rapid heartbeat.
Ten law enforcement officers had to be taken to the hospital because they breathed in fumes, Blount County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Marian O'Briant said.
The train was traveling from Cincinnati to Waycross, Georgia, CSX said.
MARYVILLE, Tenn. – A car on a CSX train carrying a flammable and toxic substance derailed and caught fire in eastern Tennessee, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people within a 2-mile radius.
Blount County Fire Department Lt. Johnny Leatherwood said a call about the train derailment came in Wednesday night at 11:50 p.m. EDT in Maryville.
The fire was still burning at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, Blount County firefighter Kermit Easterling said.
About 5,000 people in the area were being evacuated along with several businesses, Leatherwood said. Also, a manufacturing plant, Denso Manufacturing, closed down Thursday morning because of its proximity to the derailment, Easterling said.
In a statement, CSX said the train car that derailed was carrying acrylonitrile, a hazardous material used in a variety of industrial processes including making plastics. The substance is flammable and is dangerous if inhaled, CSX said.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency's website, some effects of breathing acrylonitrile include headaches, dizziness, irritability and rapid heartbeat.
Ten law enforcement officers had to be taken to the hospital because they breathed in fumes, Blount County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Marian O'Briant said.
The train was traveling from Cincinnati to Waycross, Georgia, CSX said.
