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Weyauwega derailment

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   Location of Weyauwega, Wisconsin
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   Location of Weyauwega, Wisconsin

   The Weyauwega derailment was a railroad accident that occurred in
   Weyauwega, Wisconsin, USA in the early morning hours of March 4, 1996.
   The derailed train was carrying a large quantity of hazardous material,
   which immediately caught fire. The fire, which involved the train cars
   themselves and an adjacent feed mill, burned for more than two weeks
   after the actual derailment, and resulted in the emergency evacuation
   of 2,300 people for 16 days; notably, the entire city of Weyauwega was
   evacuated, with about 1,700 evacuees alone.

Derailment and fire

   At approximately 5:49 am, an 81 car Wisconsin Central train traveling
   from Stevens Point, Wisconsin to Neenah, Wisconsin, approached the city
   of Weyauwega at 48.3 miles per hour, travelling on a downward grade.
   The first sixteen cars of the train passed a turnout without incident,
   after which 37 cars behind them derailed at the location of the switch,
   at 5:49:32 AM. A subsequent NTSB investigation found the cause of the
   derailment to be a broken rail within the turnout that was the result
   of an undetected bolt hole fracture. The derailed cars included 7 tank
   cars of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), 7 tank cars of propane and two
   tank cars of sodium hydroxide. The derailment ruptured three of the
   tank cars and spilled both LPG and propane, which immediately ignited.
   The conductor of the train cut the train after the first nine cars, and
   proceeded onward 1.5 miles. He informed local law enforcement of the
   hazardous material the train was carrying, and was instructed to tell
   the fire chief.
   An overhead view of the derailment March 5, 1996
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   An overhead view of the derailment March 5, 1996

   When the local fire crew arrived on the scene five minutes after the
   derailment, fireballs were exploding up to 300 feet (90 m) high that
   were visible for nearly 13 miles (21 km). Fire spread to a nearby feed
   mill and storage building that were both difficult to access by the
   fire crew because the derailed train was blocking the grade crossing.
   High tension power lines were also torn down by the derailment, which
   caused secondary electrical fires. In total, seven of the tank cars of
   LPG and propane leaked, and the two sodium hydroxide tank cars leaked
   their contents. Electricity and natural gas service to 25% of the city
   of Weyauwega was disrupted, and city water services had to be shut off
   because of a rupture in a water main.

   Jim Baehnman, the Assistant Fire Chief (the commanding Fire Chief, Gary
   Hecker, was on vacation the day that the accident occurred) quickly
   determined that the accident was beyond the scope of Weyauwega's fire
   department. Fire crews from 10 surrounding departments were called in
   to help with the recovery. At a time between 10 minutes and one hour
   after the derailment, it became known that propane and LPG were
   involved in this derailment; this was at the time the train's conductor
   was able to get a ride from a local resident to the Weyauwega fire
   station, where this information was relayed.

   One hour after the derailment, Wisconsin Central Railroad informed
   responding firefighters that the tank cars could withstand
   approximately 90 minutes of fire. Additionally, the head end of the
   train was rolled back to the accident scene, and pulled away seven cars
   of the train that were not derailed. At this point, a decision was made
   by the fire chief to pull firefighters back from the derailment,
   because of the risk of a BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor
   explosion). This evacuation of personnel was two blocks for one hour,
   then 1 mile, and finally 1.5 miles; the initial evacuation was done so
   quickly that fire hoses in use were abandoned and froze where they lay.
   Derailed cars in the western section of the accident site
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   Derailed cars in the western section of the accident site

   Baehnman also made the decision to evacuate the entire city of
   Weyauwega, a decision which displaced approximately 1,700 residents of
   the city, and 600 additional people in surrounding rural areas. The
   scope of the resulting fire and leaking of chemicals kept residents
   evacuated for just over two weeks, and many of the fires that erupted
   as a result of the derailment burned for most of the 18-day evacuation.

   The weather may have helped ease the situation for firefighters; the
   ambient temperature at the time of the derailment was only 10 F and
   there was still snow on the ground. Both factors may have helped
   prevent a BLEVE explosion within the first hour of the disaster, while
   emergency personnel were still on site. Ultimately, one of the cars
   containing LPG was involved in a BLEVE, causing a large fireball
   several hours after the accident. On March 20, officials in charge of
   the evacuation and disaster recovery declared the town safe for
   residents to return to their homes.

Pets in the evacuation zone

   Residents who were worried about pets that they left behind started
   illegally re-entering the 1.5 mile evacuation zone within two days of
   the derailment to rescue them. Just over half of the population
   evacuated without their pets. The acting Fire Chief declared that the
   situation was too dangerous to the public and emergency personnel to
   mount a pet rescue. Fearing a worse disaster, his decision was
   overruled by the Governor's office; the Emergency Operations Centre
   organized an official pet rescue to take place on March 8. The National
   Guard was activated to help with the recovery efforts; they escorted
   pet owners back to their residences to rescue their pets, then stayed
   to help fire crews with the accident recovery.

Litigation and costs

   Nine individuals who were affected by the evacuation filed a class
   action suit seeking punitive and treble damages against Wisconsin
   Central on March 26, 1996. By the end of the year, thirteen more
   families and two business joined the suit against the railroad, and
   another business filed a separate suit for damages in Waupaca County
   District Court. Another company filed a separate suit in US District
   Court for damages. Both of the separate suits were eventually
   dismissed. In 1998, the railroad estimated the costs from the
   derailment and class action suit to be valued at $28 million, of which
   Wisconsin Central had paid $27.2 million by the end of 1998.
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