Fire At Iowa Train Derailment Still Burning Saturday
GRAETTINGER, Iowa (AP) — An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board says an ethanol-fueled fire in Iowa at the site of rural train derailment is still burning nearly 36 hours after it erupted.
Peter Knudson with the NTSB says that two tankers carrying ethanol were still burning Saturday morning, keeping investigators away from the site in northwestern Iowa. Knudson said investigators will do some limited work, including interviewing train crew members.
The derailment occurred around 1 a.m. Friday near Graettinger, about 160 miles northwest of Des Moines. It sent 27 tanker cars, each carrying 25,000 gallons of ethanol, off the tracks. Two crew members escaped unharmed, and no other injuries had been reported.
The train was operated by Omaha-based Union Pacific Railroad.