PRINCETON — While round-the-clock cleanup of Sunday night's CSX train derailment just south of city limits continue, Princeton Board of Public Works and Safety member J.B. Brines was certain of one thing Monday night.
"We dodged a bullet," he said. Brines recalled table-top hazardous materials response exercises during his tenure as a city utility employee that helped local responders prepare for mock disaster situations similar to Sunday's derailment, explosion and fire.
Gibson County Emergency Management Agency Director Terry Hedges had the same assessment Tuesday morning, as contractors for the railroad worked to untangle the train wreckage and get the rail schedule back on track. A mandatory evacuation of the area near the derailment imposed Sunday night was lifted early Monday afternoon, but the work continues.
No one wants a train derailment, explosion and long-burning fire. But if it was going to happen near Princeton, Hedges said it couldn't have happened in a better location.
"If that had happened at the Broadway crossing in Princeton, we could have had many injuries. If it had been chlorine (rather than french fries), people would have died," he said Tuesday morning.
Hedges said CSX workers and contractors were staged with firefighters and emergency medical service and environmental officials throughout the incident. Contractors were arriving to start cleanup as early as 2 a.m. Monday, he said. "These guys know what they're doing," he said.
"CSX appreciates the continued support and partnership of the Princeton Fire Department, Indiana State Police, American Red Cross and local first responders as we work to fully restore this area and investigate the cause of the derailment," the company said in a statement Tuesday.
Princeton Fire Territory crews put out the last of the fires Tuesday morning, and were nearly immediately dispatched to an apartment fire on Brumfield Avenue in the city.
When the 23 cars derailed in the two-engine train, which had 89 loaded and nine empty railcars, no one was injured, and no one was injured during the ensuing explosion, fire and response.
While the evacuation Sunday and Monday affected traffic and work schedules and lodging for families within the area of the derailment, Gibson County Fairgrounds Toyota Events Center was designated as a CSX Transportation and Red Cross information center for anyone affected by the order.
CSX reported Tuesday that the railroad continues to work closely with local, state and federal officials, and has made significant progress removing the damaged, derailed cars and cleaning up debris. Crews were making track repairs to restore train service, and while the railroad didn't give a timeline for completion, CSX pledged to "work around the clock, as safely as possible, to finish the restoration efforts."
In Tuesday's statement, CSX reported that residents and businesses affected by the evacuation can visit www.csx.com/response to submit inconvenience expenses associated with the evacuation for review and processing. Residents must submit a copy of driver's license or other identification, proof of residency (current utility bill), receipts for lodging and food, proof of lost earnings (note from employer) in order to complete the reimbursement application.