Freight train derails, explodes near Baltimore

Fire officials said chemical train hit a garbage truck in Rosedale, Md. Blast damaged some industrial buildings, and a 20-block area was evacuated.

A freight train hauling chemicals struck a garbage truck and derailed Tuesday afternoon outside Baltimore,
triggering a huge explosion that damaged several industrial buildings, authorities said.


The only reported injury was the truck driver, who was hospitalized in serious but stable condition, fire officials said. Two crewmen were aboard the 45-car CSX train, which was traveling from Selkirk, N.Y., to Waycross, Ga.
Fire officials said 15 cars derailed just after 2 p.m. ET on Lake Drive in Rosedale, about 10 miles northeast of the city, WUSA-TV reported. Two caught fire and exploded.
Authorities reported initially that several buildings had collapsed, but Baltimore County Fire Chief John J. Hohman said later that none had. Two warehouses were extensively damaged and other businesses suffered some damage.
A 20-block area around the derailment was evacuated, though there was no mandatory evacuation. The fire was expected to burn into the night, the Baltimore County fire chief said at a news briefing.
A CSX spokesman told the Associated Press that one car was carrying sodium chlorate but that its fumes are not toxic. The chemical, classified as a hazardous material, is commonly used to bleach paper and as an herbicide.
Still, people nearby were advised to remain indoors or shelter temporarily at the Rosedale Volunteer Fire Company as firefighters began efforts to extinguish the blaze about 5:30 p.m.
The blast was felt and heard across Baltimore, and billowing smoke could seen for hours. U.S. Route 40 was closed.
Fire officials tweeted early on that companies in the area should evacuate "if you can see the smoke plume."
Amtrak and Maryland commuter rail services were not affected.
An employee of a seafood company nearby said that the explosion "felt like a bomb going off" and that it felt stronger than the earthquake that shook the region two years ago, The Baltimore Sun reported.