The firefighters from Hoover, Springville and Pell City also walked through the center of a railroad tanker car, adapted for training purposes. It was part of a three-day safety training session Norfolk Southern Corp. offered this week to area rescue workers and firefighters at the Norris Yard in Irondale. Norfolk Southern runs trains through 22 states.
“It’s an awesome opportunity to put our hands on real train equipment,” said Pell City Fire Capt. Andrew Minyard. “Norfolk Southern runs through our city. We have nearly 15 train crossings in the city limits.”
Within the past several years there have been at least two derailments of multiple rail cars within the city limits, he said. “Everything we learned today will help us,” he said.
Today, firefighters from Birmingham and Irondale will take part in a simulated derailment to learn how to better handle a train emergency.
There were at least 1,164 train derailments across the country last year, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration.
Attention to train derailments has been at a peak this year.
A fiery 38-car train derailment Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio, that spewed toxic fumes in the air and ignited hazardous materials drew national attention to the issue of railroad safety.
In Alabama, a locomotive and 11 train cars derailed in Jasper on April 8, briefly trapping and injuring two crew members. The locomotive rolled on its side, spilling diesel fuel and engine oil. The two injured crew members were briefly trapped in the engine room.
Both the Ohio and Alabama incidents involved Norfolk Southern trains, but derailments are relatively rare, said Connor Spielmaker, senior communications manager for Norfolk Southern.
“Railroad incidents are so rare, especially extreme hazmat situations,” Spielmaker said. “But, when they do happen, we want to have those relationships. We want the fire departments to have some understanding of what they’re approaching and dealing with, and know the tools that exist.”
Norfolk Southern offers the three-day training session to rescue workers who may be called on to respond to train emergencies.
“We bring this safety train to localities and invite First Responders to come out and respond,” Spielmaker said. “We want to give them an actual train and actual things they would encounter in an environment responding to a railroad incident.”
The East Palestine derailment aftermath is still being cleaned up more than three months later.
“We’re there for the long haul,” Spielmaker said. “We continue to make it right every day. We’ve got more than 200 employees and contractors there working on that goal.”
See also: Train derailment in Jasper injures two crew members.
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