ATLANTA — A train derailed in northwest Atlanta early Friday morning, sparking a small fire in the locomotive car and burning off 1,200 gallons of fuel, fire officials said.
There was no information on what caused the derailment immediately available. The fire was fully extinguished in the mid-morning.
First Deputy Chief of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, James McLemore, told 11Alive that the locomotive (the foremost, driving car of the train) had capacity for 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel and that about 2,800 of the gallons were still inside. The derailment and fire occurred with a CSX train.
According to McLemore, there was hazardous runoff from the mix of the water from hoses and the diesel fuel, which was being cleaned by a CSX mitigation team. The derailment and fire occurred on CSX property at the rail yard.
McLemore said there were no injuries and that surrounding businesses were largely unaffected, except for some road closures that were expected to be lifted later Friday morning.
Eight cars in all were involved in the derailment, McLemore said, and six of them were empty. The seventh held non-flammable materials and the eighth was the locomotive engine car where the fire ignited.
The derailment is under investigation by CSX, McLemore said.
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