ATTICA, Ohio — Fire crews responded to the scene of a Norfolk Southern train derailment in the village of Attica, about 30 miles south of Sandusky.
Twenty cars left the tracks at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, resulting in leaks from four of the cars.
One of those cars was carrying ethanol, a highly flammable liquid.
The first concern of the Attica Venice Reed Fire Division was keeping the hazardous liquid out of a nearby creek.
Norfolk Southern put out a statement that read:
“One of our trains traveling through Attica, Ohio derailed shortly before 8:30 p.m. Feb. 11. Initial assessments indicate 20 cars derailed, resulting in leaks from four cars, including three non-hazardous cars and one car carrying ethanol. There are no injuries and there is no danger to the public. Our team is working closely with local first responders to mitigate the incident.”
One nearby resident said he heard a loud crash and saw the cars flying off the tracks. He addded that clean-up crews were on-scene very quickly.
“First off was keeping it out of the waterway and also checking the nearby residents make sure with it getting in the ground it wasn’t seeping into the basement areas of the residents." Fire Chief Lonnie Jaynes said. "For the first three or four hours we monitored the nearby residents basements for combustible or gases."
The cause of the derailment is still under investigation, and cleanup is expected to take a couple days.
Norfolk Southern is facing numerous lawsuits after the train derailment in East Palestine two years ago.
The incident prompted several Ohio lawmakers to reintroduce rail reform legislation.