# Train Wreck Fire HAZMAT Evacuation Downtown Amarillo TX



## medic417 (Sep 16, 2011)

http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=664031

So anyone see it?  Any learning experience from this besides why the heck are we allowing such items to go through communities?


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## bigbaldguy (Sep 16, 2011)

medic417 said:


> http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=664031
> 
> So anyone see it?  Any learning experience from this besides why the heck are we allowing such items to go through communities?



Hey if people want Minty fresh breath they gotta put up with the occasional train fire and mandatory evacuation.


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## Aidey (Sep 16, 2011)

How do you propose they transport it? Road isn't any safer and air is prohibitively expensive.


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## medic417 (Sep 17, 2011)

Aidey said:


> How do you propose they transport it? Road isn't any safer and air is prohibitively expensive.



No train is most cost effective I just question the thought process of passing through populated areas.  Why not built loops around populated areas.  Safer and I would think even would speed freight up as the trains would not have to slow down so often.  

Does anyones services do visual surveys of the HAZMAT placards and make sure they are equiped for the eventual releases?


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## Aidey (Sep 17, 2011)

In some larger places I'm sure they do that, like how they have "business loops" off of interstates. When you think about how the US developed, especially the West, many communities gathered around the rails on purpose. There would be  A LOT of towns to bypass, and what happens when those towns grow and end up back next to the tracks? 

To answer your actual question I work for a private, so if it is a HAZMAT scene and I can see the placard, I'm too close.


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## medic417 (Sep 17, 2011)

Perhaps establish new laws restricting distance from tracks to homes or businesses so they can not build up to the tracks.  Building loops around communities could be a way to put the unemployed back to work thus leading to economic recovery and also getting something back from those getting government assistance or unemployment compensation.  

So kill 2 birds one stone safer community and fix the economy.  Its a win win.


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## usafmedic45 (Sep 17, 2011)

> Any learning experience from this besides why the heck are we allowing such items to go through communities?



That evacuating cattle is a pain in the ***.  It's Amarillo after all.


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## medic417 (Sep 17, 2011)

usafmedic45 said:


> That evacuating cattle is a pain in the ***.  It's Amarillo after all.



Sadly it's no longer the cow town it once was.  Darn yankees ruin everything.


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## medic417 (Sep 17, 2011)

Seems to be very common occurrence of explosions, leaks, or darn near disasters occurring.  In a 30 second search here are 2 more from this week.  Scared to spend longer looking I might never leave my house.  

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110917/NEWS02/309179910/-1/NEWS

http://bigbendnow.com/2011/09/box-car-explodes-diverting-traffic-to-marfa/


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## JJR512 (Sep 17, 2011)

To those talking about why build a railway through a populated area...How do you know it wasn't the other way around? Maybe the rail was there first. Maybe settlers built up along the railway, thinking, "Hey, there's a railway here, that means a steady supply of resources out here in the middle of the desert."

I honestly don't know which came first, just wondering why everyone is assuming it's the one way.


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## medic417 (Sep 17, 2011)

JJR512 said:


> To those talking about why build a railway through a populated area...How do you know it wasn't the other way around? Maybe the rail was there first. Maybe settlers built up along the railway, thinking, "Hey, there's a railway here, that means a steady supply of resources out here in the middle of the desert."
> 
> I honestly don't know which came first, just wondering why everyone is assuming it's the one way.



Actually most communities that the trains go thru built up around the tracks but in many cases that was way before so much hazardous material was being transported.  Now I am saying time to move the tracks.  Why the tracks?  Cheaper than moving the houses and businesses.


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## JJR512 (Sep 17, 2011)

medic417 said:


> Actually most communities that the trains go thru built up around the tracks but in many cases that was way before so much hazardous material was being transported. Now I am saying time to move the tracks. Why the tracks? Cheaper than moving the houses and businesses.


 
If the railroad was there first, then too bad for the neighborhood. They knew it when they built, and newer people knew it when they moved in. It's not fair to expect something that's been there since practically forever to change or move just because some people that came later suddenly decide they don't like it.


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## Aidey (Sep 17, 2011)

You do realize that the railroad was the reason a large number of western towns became permanent settlements right? They were shipping cattle and mining supplies back then. No one anticipated things would turn out like they have.


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## medic417 (Sep 17, 2011)

Aidey said:


> You do realize that the railroad was the reason a large number of western towns became permanent settlements right? They were shipping cattle and mining supplies back then. No one anticipated things would turn out like they have.



Exactly.  When they were shipping cattle the worst you could expect was a cow pie.  Now you could lose the lives of everyone for many miles with some of the toxic items being carried.


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## bigbaldguy (Sep 17, 2011)

The truth of the matter is that shipping by train is statistically very safe. Spending billions on moving track just doesn't make sense when you look at the big picture. Truly nasty cargo like nuclear waste and super toxic stuff is not generally brought through towns. Trains carry enormous amounts of hazardous cargo every hour of every day but you only become aware of it when there is an incident like this one.


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## JJR512 (Sep 17, 2011)

Aidey said:


> You do realize that the railroad was the reason a large number of western towns became permanent settlements right? They were shipping cattle and mining supplies back then. No one anticipated things would turn out like they have.


 
If you were addressing me (and I'm assuming you are, since you didn't quote any earlier post to indicate otherwise)...You do realize that the railroad being the reason a large number of western towns became permanent settlements was the core idea behind the point I was making up in Post #10, right?


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## JJR512 (Sep 17, 2011)

bigbaldguy said:


> The truth of the matter is that shipping by train is statistically very safe. Spending billions on moving track just doesn't make sense when you look at the big picture. Truly nasty cargo like nuclear waste and super toxic stuff is not generally brought through towns. Trains carry enormous amounts of hazardous cargo every hour of every day but you only become aware of it when there is an incident like this one.


 
Exactly.

And I'm pretty sure that the truly nasty stuff gets transported on public roads in unmarked trucks. I know I've seen various documentary-type shows, like Modern Marvels maybe, talking about various aspects of trucking, and although I don't believe it was explicitly stated, in my recollection it was fairly clearly implied that there is stuff going down the highways that the public at large doesn't, and isn't meant to, know about.


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## Aidey (Sep 18, 2011)

JJR512 said:


> If you were addressing me (and I'm assuming you are, since you didn't quote any earlier post to indicate otherwise)...You do realize that the railroad being the reason a large number of western towns became permanent settlements was the core idea behind the point I was making up in Post #10, right?



Which was the point I had already made in post #5. However, you can not expect the people who build the towns in the 1800s to have known what kind of stuff would shipped 150 years in the future. And there is just as much unknown nasty stuff on trains as there is on trucks.


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## medic417 (Sep 18, 2011)

JJR512 said:


> Exactly.
> 
> And I'm pretty sure that the truly nasty stuff gets transported on public roads in unmarked trucks. I know I've seen various documentary-type shows, like Modern Marvels maybe, talking about various aspects of trucking, and although I don't believe it was explicitly stated, in my recollection it was fairly clearly implied that there is stuff going down the highways that the public at large doesn't, and isn't meant to, know about.



Yes much is transported in trucks.  The scary part to prevent theft by terrorists some extremely deadly items are transported w/o HAZMAT placards.  So now emergency responders have no clues what is in the wreck.  

I know many small communities have spent the money to make truck loops in order to stop the trucks from coming thru town.  

So why not make loops around communities for trains?  Realistically is it going to happen?  Nope.  Better to save money than lives the rich people always say.


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