Evacuation order still in place after fiery Iowa derailment

Dozens of train cars — several carrying hazardous materials — went off tracks near Sibley

May. 17, 2021 3:55 pm

Smoke rises from a pile of rail cars as first responders and railroad crews work Monday, May 17, at the scene of a Union Pacific train derailment on the southwest edge of Sibley, Iowa. No one was injured in the derailment. Impacted cars on the the train contained hydrochloric acid, potassium hydroxide and asphalt, according to a Union Pacific official. (Tim Hynds/Sioux City Journal via AP)

SIBLEY — An evacuation order remained in place Monday for part of a northwest Iowa town as firefighters worked to extinguish a burning train after a weekend derailment.

About 47 cars derailed Sunday afternoon near Sibley, including several cars that were carrying hazardous materials. The resulting fire created a thick plume of black smoke but no injuries were reported.

Sibley is a town of about 3,000 people roughly 200 miles northwest of Des Moines. The west end of the town was evacuated after the derailment.

Union Pacific spokeswoman Robynn Tysver said the railroad’s hazardous materials experts worked with first responders through the night to contain the blaze.

Tysver said several cars involved in the derailment were carrying hydrochloric acid, potassium hydroxide and asphalt. An empty tank car on the train had been carrying liquid ammonia nitrate.

The railroad said the cause of the derailment remains under investigation, but witnesses reported that a bridge had been damaged underneath the train.

Robin Eggink told the Des Moines Register that she and her husband noticed the train slowing down followed by a big cloud of smoke as they were eating at a Pizza Hut outside of Sibley on Sunday. The family drove near the site of the smoke and saw the train split in two on both sides of a bridge before firefighters ordered them out of the area, Eggink said.

Tysver said the bridge may have been damaged during the derailment but it did not collapse.

First responders and railroad crews work Monday, May 17, at the scene of a Union Pacific train derailment on the southwest edge of Sibley, Iowa. The town was evacuated Sunday afternoon after 47 railroad cars derailed and caught fire, causing a hazardous materials situation. (Tim Hynds/Sioux City Journal via AP)

Smoke billows from a train derailment, Sunday, May 16, in Sibley, Iowa. (Mason Dockter/Sioux City Journal via AP)