October 25, 2004
Detroit Local 4 CBS News
Photo: Residents were evacuated in a two-mile radius from the scene.
DETROIT -- Explosive contents in a train derailment have created a Hazmat Level Three situation in a Detroit neighborhood Monday. Evacuations include three elementary schools.
Nine train cars overturned just before 11 a.m. in a neighborhood in the area of Nevada and the Interstate 75 service drive, Local 4 reported. Senior Chief Roy Miller of the Detroit Fire Department said four of the cars contain methyl alcohol, but said there are no reports of a leak.
Methyl alcohol is highly explosive and is used as a jet fuel, according to Miller.
Homes were being evacuated in a one-mile radius from the scene, the station reported. Officers are reportedly going door to door to alert residents and are combing the streets.
Detroit Public School officials have announced they are evacuating Greenfield Union Elementary School on Seven Mile Road, Greenfield Park Elementary School on Brush Street and Grayling Elementary School on West Adeline, according to Local 4. Parents were reportedly being called by the schools to pick up their children and sign them out.
Children who were not picked up by their parents were being taken to a safe location by bus. Detroit Public School representative Mattie Majors said students from Greenfield Park Elementary and Grayling Elementary were being taken to Pershing High School located at 18875 Ryan Road. She said she would later release the location of where Greenfield Union students were being sent.
"The safety of the kids is the most important," said Majors.
Miller said emergency crews remain at the scene and will keep water on the tanks in an effort to prevent an explosion.
"Right now what we are trying to do is secure the situation," said Canadian Rail representative Gloria Combe. "We are very concerned with the safety of the people in the community."
Combe said she would go to the scene to assess the situation and confirm the possibility of a leak. She said the scene will be treated as a worst-case scenario to ensure the community is safe.
Combe did not have details on the train's route.
The cause of the derailment was not known.
No injuries were reported.
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