Emergency Officials Investigating After Freight Train Hauling New Vehicles Derails In Arizona

Cause of accident remains unknown after 23 carriages leave the tracks

A fiery train derailment in Arizona on July 29, 2020. (Courtesy of KPHO/KTVK)

Authorities said a freight train derailed in northern Arizona about 30 miles west of Flagstaff on June 7, heavily damaging 23 rail cars.

Coconino County Emergency Management (CCEM) officials said the agency is investigating the 11:20 p.m. accident involving a BNSF freight train east of Williams.

“A total of 23 cars derailed and sustained heavy damage. The train cars involved were carrying a variety of new cars, vans, and trucks. There were no injuries or fatalities as a result of the incident. Cleanup is currently underway,” CCEM said in a press release.

News outlets reported the train was heading for California and traveling at about 50 mph when the freight cars derailed near several homes.

CCEM Director West Dison told Fox10 there are no concerns about hazardous materials; however, the cleanup could take several days.

“It was about as good a result as we could see for such a significant incident,” Dison told Fox10.

“Our BNSF partners already had this well in hand; they were already there. Our job is really to provide any support they might need.”

String of accidents

Nationwide, there have been at least a dozen train derailments this year.

The worst occurred on Feb. 3 when a train carrying vinyl chloride derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, prompting evacuations and a massive environmental cleanup.

On Feb. 1, a train went off the tracks near a bridge in Detroit, Michigan, while a train collision with an empty freight car in Chico, Texas, on April 17 injured two rail workers.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 54,539 train derailments in the United States were reported between 1990 and 2021.

In 2002, a train derailment in North Dakota injured 1,441 people.

In an unrelated incident, Union Pacific (UP) and explosives manufacturing company Dyno Nobel are still investigating the disappearance of more than 30 tons of ammonium nitrate from a train heading west from Wyoming to California in April.

Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound in fertilizer and high explosives.

Preliminary findings of the investigation suggest that a leak in the bottom gate of a rail car containing the chemical occurred during transport.

UP did not return an email seeking further information on the investigation from The Epoch Times.