Freight train derails northwest of Chicago

ROCKFORD, Ill. — A Canadian National freight train derailed, triggering an explosion Friday night that left at least two people critically injured and prompted officials to evacuate the area northwest of Chicago amid concerns more of the train’s cars might catch fire.

Rockford Fire Chief Derek Bergsten said the injured people were in a vehicle that was waiting for the train to pass a crossing. Bergsten said three of them ran from the car when it was bombarded with flying railroad ties from the derailment and were severely burned by flaming ethanol from the explosion about 80 miles northwest of Chicago.

The three were taken to OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in serious to critical condition, and one of them was later airlifted to Stroger Hospital in Chicago, Bergsten said.

The fire chief said the eastbound train had 114 cars, 74 of which were tankers filled with ethanol.

Witnesses told the Rockford Register-Star that cars on the Chicago-bound train began hydroplaning in standing water just as it approached the crossing. Some of them left the tracks moments before two of them exploded.

Patrick Waldron, spokesman for Canadian National, said the two crewmen on the train escaped injury. The engine was able to pull 64 cars still attached away from the scene.

Bergsten said 12 of the tankers were burning at midnight, and authorities said they planned to let the fire burn itself out.

“The situation is not under control, but we are making progress in getting it under control,” said Kirk Wilson, a fire chief in nearby Rockton. “It’s very dangerous. It’s very explosive. We’re not risking any firefighters’ lives.”

“We’re letting the product burn itself out,” he said. “We can’t get too close to it. We’re observing everything through binoculars from about 200 or 300 feet away.”

Wilson, whose department was one of at least 26 that responded to the derailment, said its cause was under investigation.

Officials evacuated residents from about 600 homes within a half-mile radius of the derailment, Bergsten said. The evacuees were being housed at a number of churches and private homes.

“At first I thought it was a tornado because they always say a tornado sounds like a train coming,” said Jeff Tilley, a Register-Star employee who lives near the scene.

Alicia Zatkowski, a spokeswoman for ComEd, said the derailment knocked out power to some 1,000 of the Chicago-based utility’s Rockford-area customers. She said about 450 customers remained without power at 1 a.m. Saturday.