Residents Allowed Back After Derailed Ethanol Carrying Freight Train Fire Forces Evacuation Of Small Minnesota Town Home
A freight train transporting ethanol and corn syrup derailed in Raymond, Minnesota which unfortunately caused several cars to explode into flames.
The local civilians in the vicinity were immediately asked to evacuate. Residents had to rush initially when a half-mile evacuation zone was ordered around the crash site.
The company which runs the train,
BNSF Railway
, claimed that there were no other hazardous materials on the train and no injuries due to the derailment were reported.
Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz was briefed on the
derailment
and later he visited the site.
Residents were eventually allowed to return home late after the initial evacuation on Thursday morning.
The civilians had taken shelter at a school and a church in nearby Prinsburg.
As per the Minnesota Department of Transportation, road detours stayed in place and Highway 23 was closed from Kandiyohi County Road 1 to Chippewa County Road 1.
Ethanol is used widely in gasoline in the US to mitigate air
pollution
from the fossil fuel and to push the use of biofuels, according to the Department of Energy.
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