Rail cars carrying hazardous material derail and catch fire in North Dakota

Rail cars carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire Friday in a remote area of ​​North Dakota. Authorities said no one was injured and the danger to residents appears to be minimal.

Twenty-nine cars of a CPKC The train derailed around 3:45 a.m. in an area surrounded by farmland about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of Fargo, said Andrew Kirking, Foster County emergency management director.

The vehicles were carrying anhydrous ammonia, sulfur and methanol, said Bill Suess, spill investigation program manager for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. The ammonia posed the greatest risk, but winds carried the smoke away from the nearby town of Bordulac, which has a population of about 20.

“The wind has been in our favor at this point,” Suess said. “That risk has diminished significantly. It’s still there — as long as there are fires.”

Exposure to high levels of ammonia in the air can cause burns to the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory tract, and can lead to blindness, lung damage or death, health officials say. Exposure to lower levels can cause coughing and irritation of the nose and throat.

For now, authorities do not plan to evacuate residents, but that could change if the wind shifts, Suess said.

Kirking said the cause of the derailment was unknown. The engineer and conductor escaped safely, he said.

Kirking said it looked like 10 to 15 of the cars caught fire. Videos posted on the social platform X showed the fire raging fiercely. It was still raging Friday afternoon. A fire crew from the railway was on the scene.

CPKC said in a statement that it “has initiated its emergency response plan and launched a comprehensive, coordinated response.”

CPKC was formed last year from a merger of Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern.