TRAIN DERAILS, CATCHES FIRE; CAUSE OF ACCIDENT UNKNOWN

A railway company says its priorities are cleaning up wreckage, environmental remediation and repairing damaged tracks after a freight train it owns derailed and caught fire in Cape Girardeau.

"Obviously, that's our first order of business," said Mike Martin of Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. in Fort Worth, Texas.

Sixteen cars of the 24-car train derailed at about 1:20 a.m. Monday near Lone Star Industries at 2524 S. Sprigg. It included a tanker carrying phosphoric acid.

The train was headed north from Memphis, Tenn., to Denver, pulling 14 loaded cars and 10 empty ones. Cargo included fiber board, particle board, railroad ties, furniture, paper, cotton seed oil and beer, but Martin said most of the loads were contained in boxcars and did not spill.

Cause of the derailment was not immediately known and is under investigation.

A fire apparently started when sparks from the electrical system in the locomotive ignited diesel fuel, Martin said.

Fire was contained mostly to the two locomotives. Firefighters fought the fire for about an hour before getting it under control, said Fire Chief Dan White.

A conductor and engineer escaped without injuries but were taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Two thousand gallons of diesel fuel from tanks spilled. A small amount of phosphoric acid also seeped, Martin said. The diesel fuel and phosphoric acid were contained almost immediately, Martin said.

However, the Cape Girardeau Fire Department tested a nearby stream for phosphoric acid and results showed about 3 percent acid. "That's a small release and is relatively minor," Martin said.

Martin said that Burlington Northern will also do whatever it takes to neutralize the phosphoric acid and diesel fuel that was released into the environment.

Martin wasn't sure what it would take to neutralize the acid, but said he thought that much of the dirt where the fuel spilled would have to be dug up and replaced.

Meanwhile, trains are moving despite the derailment, albeit with a 24-hour delay and not through Cape Girardeau, Martin said. Railroad traffic was being diverted to Union Pacific lines, Martin said.

Trains will now travel on tracks near Chaffee until the Cape Girardeau tracks are repaired, he said.

It could take several weeks before 16 damaged freight cars are removed and the tracks repaired.

Burlington Northern will repair the damaged tracks, Martin said, although he had no idea how much time it would take. He said he hoped it wouldn't be longer than several weeks.

This isn't the first time a Burlington Northern train has derailed there: A train jumped the tracks at almost the exact location over three years ago. Two men were injured March 6, 1993, when a northbound Burlington Northern train derailed near Lone Star.