JULY 14, 2016
Chattanooga, TN
Three people were injured Thursday morning after a Norfolk Southern train collided with a heavy truck, derailing numerous rail cars and forcing officials to close nearby roads.
The incident happened at 9:15 a.m. in the 400 block of Wauhatchie Pike, injuring the truck driver, train engineer and a conductor, according to the Chattanooga Fire Department.
The collision demolished the heavy "roll-off" truck and required firefighters to use special hydraulic equipment to extricate the driver, Garner said. Responders found the truck cab in a ditch 50 yards from the impact.
"The truck driver was extremely lucky not have been seriously injured or killed," he said.
Hamilton County EMS took all three victims to a local hospital, said Bruce Garner, fire department spokesman. The Norfolk Southern employees suffered minor injuries, he said.
"They actually walked up to the paramedics," he said.
Three locomotives and 10 rail cars left the tracks, with some of them upended, Garner said. The wreck also ruptured locomotive tanks, spilling "thousands of gallons of diesel fuel," he said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Outside of the environmental hazard from the diesel fuel, investigators reported the accident involved no dangerous chemicals, Garner said.
Some of the train cars carried hazardous materials but none derailed, Garner said. The cars that did leave the track carried material such as lumber and plastic pellets.
A least a dozen firefighters, including members of the department's special operations division, responded to the incident, working with railroad employees to make sure no hazardous substances leaked from the cars.
Police closed intersections at Cummings Road, Cummings Highway and Wauhatchie Pike so Norfolk Southern repair crews could right the derailed cars and repair the track ripped away in the crash. Environmental cleaning companies HEPACO and Marion Environmental have joined Norfolk Southern in removing diesel fuel and other materials.
The truck belonged to Clean Harbors, one of the largest environmental cleanup agencies in North America. The company operates a facility at 3300 Cummings Road about a half-mile from the crash, Clean Harbors spokesman Eric Kraus said.
"What I can tell you at this time is that while we will conduct a full investigation regarding the root cause of the accident, our primary concern is with the health of the driver and the two conductors," Kraus said. "From what we know right now, we're grateful their injuries were not more severe."
He said the destroyed truck carried nonhazardous material in a container that remained intact. He added Clean Harbors often cleans up similar environmental messes.
"We typically clean up situations like this for our customers," Kraus said.
Norfolk Southern could not be reached for comment, but Garner said a company representative told the fire department they hoped to have the site cleaned up by this morning.