Residents Told To Stay Indoors After Derailment In Gary
GARY, Ind. (STMW) -- Residents within a square mile of a train derailment in Gary's Miller section were being asked Sunday to stay indoors as much as possible to allow emergency and heavy equipment workers to clean up the wreckage.
Gary Fire Chief Theresa Everett said the 15-car pileup involving a CSX train and a South Shore train at Old Hobart Road and Atcheson Drive near U.S. 20 appears not to have any sort of hazardous materials on it. Nevertheless, residents should stay put so workers can start the long process of uprighting the trains and traffic can continue to flow.
"There's a lot of heavy equipment back there, and the cleanup is going to take some time," Everett said. "We haven't determined what substances were on the train, but there appears to be nothing hazardous at this time."
Everett said the Gary Fire Department was notified of the derailment about 6:53 a.m. At least one of the trains was heading eastboundd, but the exact cause is still under investigation.
Two railroad workers were injured, injuries weren't life-threatening, she said.
Crews from CSX, the city's HazMat and Lake County HazMat departments are assisting the Gary Fire Department.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
