Emergency services rally in wake of train derailment

Author: Kelly Janis

As the dust settles in the wake of the Oct. 22 derailment of a freight train in downtown Middlebury, the numerous local agencies instrumental in the ensuing response and clean-up are taking stock of their performance, and looking toward the future with a newly-honed conception of their strengths and weaknesses.

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The 25-car train was traveling from Albany, N.Y., to Burlington, Vt., when it derailed at 1:54 p.m. near the Merchants Row overpass. Sixteen of the train's cars - which, when loaded with fuel, weigh approximately 125 tons - overturned as what is tentatively considered the result of a faulty track. Two of the 16 cars contained rock salt. The others contained thousands of gallons of gasoline.

Middlebury Fire Chief Richard Cole became aware of the derailment after receiving a phone call at work. "I really didn't know what to expect," he said. "We were told that we had a train derailment with fire. Of course, we had no idea what the cars contained until we got there."

Upon arriving on the scene, Cole and his colleagues were encouraged by their immediate observation that the associated fire was relatively small. "And then, shortly after that, we realized that it was all gasoline, which is not good with fire," he said.

"Those cars contained a total of about 375,000 gallons of gasoline," Middlebury Chief of Police Thomas Hanley said. "Now, you can only imagine what would have happened if any of that had ignited."

Correcting what he perceived to be a popular misconception, Cole explained that the fire started not on account of the gasoline, but due likely to friction between the train's wheels and the grass.

Ultimately, Cole said, "we were able to contain the fires very rapidly."

Containing the fire, however, did little in the way of expunging concern for the public's welfare.

"Evacuating the area was our first priority, until we knew everything was stable," Cole said.

A one-square-mile evacuation zone was declared, snarling traffic and shutting down 30 local roads, including heavily traveled sections of Rt. 7.

Adhering to a pre-existing emergency plan, students at Middlebury Union High School were evacuated to the district's middle school, while those at Mary Hogan Elementary School were transported to the Salisbury School as a precaution.

"We got some frustration with parents because it took so long to pick the students up," Hanley said, "but you don't just turn kids loose."

Segments of the College also fell within what Hanley deemed "the hot zone."

"We reported to Public Safety immediately," Hanley said. "We gave them an evacuation zone, and they took care of their community and got them out of there. We kept in touch with the College community with Public Safety all along."

Student residents of Storrs Avenue, Shannon Street, Weybridge Street, South Main Street and portions of College Street who remained on campus during the midterm break were advised to congregate in Ross Dining Hall in accordance with the evacuation order.

Meanwhile, many of the over 400 individuals displaced from their homes downtown sought refuge at the Red Cross emergency shelter at the Middlebury American Legion on Wilson Road.

"We don't just evacuate these people and throw them out in the street," Hanley said. "We have to have lodging."

In addition, numerous businesses in the vicinity were forced to close up shop. Among them was Carol's Hungry Mind CafÈ, which boasts a view of the tracks from its back window on Merchants Row.

Although he was not working at the time, Carol's employee Greg Keebler said co-workers later described the event to him as sudden and jarring. "Someone told me it felt like 10 different earthquakes when the cars went off the track," Keebler said.

The derailment registered as a figurative earthquake to a small town unaccustomed to being poised on the brink of catastrophe. By all accounts, Middlebury rose gracefully to the challenge, though it was no small undertaking.

"Somebody has to sit there with a pen and think about this stuff," Hanley said. "What do we do about the phone lines? What about the sewer lines? What about feeding these people? What about getting traffic control here, and security over there? How are we going to deal with this gasoline that is spilled? And how are we even going to get there? There was no road. Somebody had to get heavy equipment and build a road, put a culvert in. This stuff had to be engineered in an hour or two. If I sat here and told you everything that happened in the first two hours, you would be amazed."

Attending to the incident required significant overtime. "We immediately went to 12 hour shifts here," Hanley said. "All days off were canceled. We went to 12 hours on, 12 hours off. Some went a little more than 12 hours. Some went closer to 16 hours. Once we have vacant storefronts, vacant buildings, vacant homes, we have to worry about the pickings being easy."

Hanley doubts that the casual observer would glean an appropriate appreciation for the effort that was mounted. "They look and they see somebody picking up a tank car, or they see a couple of firemen standing with a hose," he said. "But the depth of this operation was quite sophisticated."

This sophistication was possible thanks to an intricate web of collaboration.

"The mutual aid, support and coordination between all of the many agencies have been outstanding," said a statement posted on the town's official website, which, along with Middlebury Community Television, was instrumental in relaying information in a timely fashion.

One-hundred and ten firefighters from departments in Addison, Bridport, Bristol, Cornwall, New Haven, Ripton, Salisbury, Starksboro, Vergennes, Weybridge and Whiting flocked to the scene to offer assistance.

Working alongside them were the Vermont State Police, the Vergennes Police Department, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the Vermont Agency of Health and Human Services, Vermont Hazmat, Vermont Emergency Management, Addison County Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and the American Red Cross.

"We even had the United States Coast Guard represented here, because of their expertise in protecting the waterway," Cole said.

At last, the most grueling work lies behind the community.

"It's Happyville again," Hanley said. "The wreck is gone, the trains are rolling, the tracks are fixed."

Early on the morning of Oct. 23, all evacuation orders were lifted, and residents were permitted to return to their homes. Previously closed streets also re-opened, though as of Oct. 29, parking remained prohibited on lower Water Street in order to facilitate the movement of equipment as final clean-up winds down.

Meanwhile, environmental concerns are easing. Tests by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation have determined that drinking water is safe, and air and water quality are being regularly monitored.

Officials believe that gasoline leakage into Otter Creek - which was minimal and quickly contained - poses no significant hazard.

"We figured we didn't have to worry about a fairly substantial amount of gasoline getting into the river, because there are about eight waterfalls between here and Lake Champlain," Hanley said. "The environmental folks were here, and they were concerned about it, but they understood that the solution to pollution, sometimes, is dilution. Sometimes it's best to let nature handle it."

As they consider the events of the past week, emergency responders feel that they have much of which to be proud.

"We got a very nice compliment from the people who right the cars," C
ole said. "This company works all over the country, and they said that this was one of the most well-run scenes they had ever seen."

Much of the ease of operation, officials said, can be attributed to the community at large.

"It bodes well for us that the community has a lot of confidence in the emergency services here, because they were wonderful," Hanley said. "The people in this town responded very well to us."

Ultimately, the incident served as a learning experience for all involved.

"We learned that we can handle a situation like this," Cole said. "This is the type of thing you train for, to an extent. But you can never train for the actual incident. You just don't know until it happens. I am extremely pleased with the way it was all handled."