Potentially-Explosive Train Jumps Tracks, Hits Nearby Warehouse

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Story Published: Apr 8, 2007 at 10:35 PM PST

By Aaron Kellogg & Maria Medina

YAKIMA -- Four train cars loaded with highly-explosive propane rolled off the Burlington Northern tracks near Washington Avenue. KIMA has learned they're not leaking, but Yakima Fire crews tell us that the situation could've posed an extreme danger.

The first four containers of the train tipped over, off the tracks and into a nearby fruit warehouse. Investigators now think the cars just started moving without any engine.

Workers at the building tell us this isn't the first time they've seen the train cars derail.

"This has happened before," said Ronald Burkhardt who stood outside with other coworkers after getting a call from a fellow employee about the accident. "There's been a few derailments right alongside the building also in the past."

Investigators from Burlington Northern spent Sunday night at the accident, trying to figure out how the cars started moving and fell off the tracks. Meanwhile, the outside walls of the train's propane tanks are not damaged to the point where gas will leak from them, fire crews said.

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