Train carrying hazardous gas derails in Carroll

“Our focus first is making sure the public is safe,” said Bob Sullivan, a spokesman for CSX, the train company.

Emergency crews went door to door within a one-mile radius of the derailment suggesting people leave while a tanker carrying anhydrous ammonia — a poisonous, liquefied gas — was righted and put back on the rail, Carroll County spokeswoman Vivian Laxton said.

Officials said it was a “voluntary and precautionary” evacuation because no leak occurred after 21 cars of a 91-car train heading from Cumberland to Philadelphia derailed at 2:15 a.m. in a rural area along the Patapsco River in Patapsco Valley State Park.

An emergency shelter was established at Sykesville fire hall on Route 32.

Residents who live between one and three miles of the accident were asked to stay inside, close all windows and doors, and shut off heat pumps and air-conditioning.

The train’s two occupants, a conductor and engineer, were not injured , Sullivan said.

Hazardous materials crews and Maryland Department of the Environment officials determined that the derailed car loaded with 33,720 gallons of anhydrous ammonia had not spilled its contents.

The train’s other cars were carrying paper products and wheat, Laxton said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, a process likely to take several weeks. 

No cause has been identified. Investigators determined that the train was traveling 23 mph in a 25-mph zone when it derailed.

Once the tanker was moved, residents and businesses within a one-mile radius of the derailment site were expected to be notified in a recorded telephone message issued jointly by the Howard and Carroll Offices of Public Safety using new “Reverse 911” technology.

Authorities told Carroll and Howard students who live near the tracks to stay at school and alerted nearby Thomas O’Farrell Youth Center in Marriottsville.

No commuter trains were affected and the tracks were expected to reopen today.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com