Freight Derailment in Wyoming Triggers Massive Fireball

A 12-hour fire caused when a train derailment triggered an explosion Saturday afternoon outside Rock Springs, Wyoming, is under control, Sweetwater County Fire Department No. 1 reports.

Shortly before 3 p.m. 26 cars of a much larger Union Pacific freight train derailed, leading to a series of massive fireballs near Baxter Road. Ten of the derailed cars carried ethanol and an unnamed plastic material.

Two deputies responding to the derailment suffered second degree burns from one of the subsequent fireballs. Both were treated and released at an area hospital.

The derailment was also responsible for a wildfire that swept across more than 20 acres of land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

More than 60 responders working at the fire scene achieved extinguishment at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday.