An explosion inside a shipping container at the world's largest railyard prompted evacuations in western Nebraska Thursday because of the toxic smoke generated when one of the chemicals aboard caught fire.
Around noon, an explosion occurred inside an intermodal container on a railcar at Union Pacific's Bailey Yard in North Platte, though it wasn't clear what caused the explosion, railroad spokeswoman Robynn Tysver said. No one was injured, and no cars derailed.
One of the containers involved was carrying perchloric acid, which is used in explosives as well as a variety of food and drug products, Tysver said. The car that exploded had been stationary for a couple hours beforehand, authorities said. The railyard where the explosion happened covers 2,850 acres and stretches as wide as eight miles at one point. A few years ago, an eight-story tall observation tower was built to allow people to watch thousands of railcars be sorted from one train to another on Union Pacific's key east-west corridor.
“And then it was just fire, fire, fire, constant for 10, 12 minutes maybe. And then the fire went down and smoke kind of increased, and then it was just sparks coming out,” Gregg Robertson told the newspaper.
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Explosion at world's largest railyard in Nebraska prompts evacuations because of heavy toxic smokeAn explosion inside a shipping container at the world's largest railyard prompted evacuations in western Nebraska Thursday because of the toxic smoke generated when one of the chemicals aboard caught fire
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Explosion at world's largest railyard in Nebraska prompts evacuations because of heavy toxic smokeAn explosion inside a shipping container at the world's largest railyard prompted evacuations in western Nebraska Thursday because of the toxic smoke generated when one of the chemicals aboard caught fire
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Explosion, toxic smoke at world's largest railyard in Nebraska prompt evacuationsAround noon, an explosion occurred inside an intermodal container on a railcar at Union Pacific's Bailey Yard in North Platte.
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Explosion at world's largest railyard in Nebraska prompts evacuations because of heavy toxic smokeAn explosion inside a shipping container at the world's largest railyard prompted evacuations in western Nebraska Thursday because of the toxic smoke generated when one of the chemicals aboard caught fire.
Read more »
Explosion at world's largest railyard in Nebraska prompts evacuations because of heavy toxic smokeAn explosion inside a shipping container at the world's largest railyard prompted evacuations in western Nebraska Thursday because of the toxic smoke generated when one of the chemicals aboard caught fire.
Read more »
Explosion at Nebraska railyard prompts evacuations because of heavy toxic smokeAn explosion inside a shipping container at the world's largest railyard prompted evacuations in western Nebraska Thursday because of the toxic smoke generated when one of the chemicals aboard caught fire
Read more »