Evacuation Lifted After Train Carrying Ethanol, Corn Syrup Derails

RAYMOND, MN — The evacuation of Raymond was lifted Thursday after a train carrying ethanol and corn syrup derailed and several cars caught on fire, according to officials. There were no injuries as a result of the crash, according to investigators.

BNSF Railway said about 22 cars derailed and four of them caught on fire, emphasizing there were no hazardous materials on the train.

"We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all the volunteer fire and EMS departments for their assistance thus far and to everyone else who has transported, sheltered and fed those folks displaced from their homes," the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office said.

Gov. Tim Walz said he was briefed by United States Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and plans to visit the crash site Thursday. "The state stands ready to protect the health and safety of the community," Walz tweeted.

BNSF CEO Katie Farmer apologized at a news conference with Walz and other Minnesota officials Thursday morning and said that the Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad works hard to prevent derailments and it will start cleaning up the mess as soon as it is able to get access to the site after the fire is extinguished.

"We will have our team here until this is cleaned up," she said.

The entire town of Raymond had to be evacuated because it is all within 1/2 mile (0.8 kilometers) of the derailment, and residents of about 250 homes were taken to a shelter in nearby Prinsburg. Farmer said anyone who has to get a hotel room will be reimbursed.

Walz and railroad officials said they aren't especially concerned about groundwater contamination from this derailment because much of the ethanol will burn off and the ground remains frozen.

"What you see right now is cars on top of each other, they’re burning, and it’s a scary situation. ... You see the tanker car burning, your first thought is that that’s a big bomb waiting to explode on that. I hope you know that the safeguards that were put in place ... is to make sure they don’t explode," Walz said. "And they are punctured, they are leaking. The good news probably is with the relatively frozen ground, that the ethanol will burn off."

Environmental Protection Agency officials from the same regional office that responded to the Ohio derailment arrived on site and started monitoring the air around the derailment for toxic chemicals by 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

On Thursday at about 1 a.m., the sheriff's office was alerted of the derailment. "Numerous" cars of a Northern Santa Fe train derailed on the western edge of the city, authorities said.

Fire departments from Raymond and elsewhere responded when the derailed tankers started on fire.

The Federal Railroad Administration, the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are all responding to the derailment, and the NTSB said a team will conduct a safety investigation into the derailment.

BNSF advised anyone impacted by the derailment to contact 866-243-4784.

No travel is advised into Raymond. The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed Highway 23 in the city.

Raymond has a population of about 722, according to the United States Census Bureau.

This is a breaking news story. Stay with Patch as more information is made available.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.