MAY 14, 2015
HAZELWOOD, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA
Eleven cars of a long freight train derailed this morning in
Hazelwood, Allegheny County emergency officials said.
The incident was reported about 10 a.m. near the 4100 block
of Second Avenue and Irvine Street, officials said. Those streets were closed
to outbound traffic for a while after the derailment, but both have now
reopened.
John Poister, state Department of Environmental Protection
spokesman, said there were no injuries and the derailed cars were empty.
Some of the cars were on their sides, and their wheel sets
separated from the car bodies.
Allegheny Valley Railroad confirmed the derailed train
belonged to the company but had no further comment.
The derailed part of the train, immediately behind its five
locomotives, included mostly covered and open hopper cars. The train
also was pulling dozens of tanker cars, but none of them derailed.
A man who lives on Irvine Street about 100 yards from the
derailment said he heard the usual banging noises that trains in the area make,
but then “I heard the engines slam down [their power] real quick and I knew
something was going on.”
The man, who would not give his name, said he frequently
sees trains hauling crude oil, corrosive acid, chlorine and diesel fuel on the
Allegheny Valley tracks.
”We’re just lucky that’s not what got pulled off the rails“
today, he said.