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MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — 6 p.m.
An official in eastern Tennessee says smoke has stopped rising from the site where a CSX train car derailed and caught fire, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.
Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell said shortly before 6 p.m. that he and others had visited the site and the smoke had stopped.
Earlier, officials said firefighters had been unable to get close to the site because of the heat. Mitchell said there were also concerns that the fumes contained cyanide, a byproduct of burning the chemical acrylonitrile, which was leaking from the train car.
Firefighters had been hosing down neighboring train cars to cool them and trying to move them away from the flames.
The CSX train car, bound from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Waycross, Georgia, derailed shortly before midnight Wednesday.
About 5,000 people have been evacuated from a mile-and-a-half radius of the site.
4:30 p.m.
A fire continues to burn at the site of a train derailment in eastern Tennessee after a CSX train car carrying a flammable and toxic substance derailed and caught fire, and officials say firefighters are trying to keep neighboring rail cars cool as they make efforts to move them away from the flames.
At a 4:30 p.m. news conference Thursday in Maryville, Tennessee, Craig Camuso, CSX regional vice president for state government affairs, said firefighters are getting as close to the damaged 24,000-gallon tank car as they can, given the heat.
Camuso said officials don't know yet how much acrylonitrile is coming out of the tank and burning or how much remains inside.
Officials say acrylonitrile, a liquid, is a hazardous material used in multiple industrial processes including making plastics.
Kevin Eichinger, an on-scene coordinator with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, said air monitoring has begun, and so far it shows air quality "around background levels."
About 5,000 people have been evacuated from a mile-and-a-half radius around the Wednesday night accident.
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12:30 p.m.
Officials in Maryville, Tennessee, say an evacuation is expected to last at least until Friday, after a CSX train car carrying a flammable and toxic substance derailed and caught fire. They also asked nearby residents not to drink well water for now.
At a Thursday news conference, Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell said CSX will provide bottled water to residents at a local middle school.
Maryville City Manager Greg McClain added that there's no indication yet whether well water has been affected by the incident.
He also advised evacuees to make plans to be away from home at least for Thursday night.
About 5,000 people in the area were evacuated along with several businesses.
CSX says the train car that derailed was carrying acrylonitrile, a hazardous material used in multiple industrial processes including making plastics. Officials say the substance is flammable and is dangerous if inhaled.
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9:10 a.m.
Several law enforcement officers were hospitalized after a CSX train car carrying a flammable substance derailed and caught fire in eastern Tennessee.
Blount County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Marian O'Briant says 10 law enforcement officers had to be taken to the hospital early Thursday because they breathed in fumes.
In a statement, CSX says the train car was carrying acrylonitrile, a hazardous material used in a variety of industrial processes including making plastics.
The derailment prompted officials to evacuate 5,000 residents within a 2-mile radius of the site.
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8:15 a.m.
A CSX statement says the train that derailed and caught fire in eastern Tennessee was carrying acrylonitrile, a hazardous material used in a variety of industrial processes including making plastics.
CSX says the substance is flammable and is dangerous if inhaled.
Authorities say 5,000 people within a 2-mile radius of the derailment in Maryville, Tennessee, have been told to evacuate.
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7:30 a.m.
A fire official says about 5,000 people and several businesses are being evacuated in a 2-mile radius around a train derailment and fire in eastern Tennessee.
Blount County Fire Department Lt. Johnny Leatherwood says a call came in about the derailment at 11:50 p.m. Wednesday. At least one CSX train car carrying a flammable and toxic gas derailed and caught fire. Leatherwood says the fire was still burning at 6:05 a.m. Thursday.
He says firefighters and hazardous-materials crew are on the scene. He says six or seven officers had to be decontaminated but no deaths have been reported.
He could not say how many cars derailed or what substance they were carrying.
He says residents were notified by reverse 911 calls and door-to-door visits.
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6:50 a.m.
Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Dean Flener says there have been no reports of fatalities after a CSX train carrying a flammable substance derailed and caught fire in eastern Tennessee.
Authorities say residents within a 1-mile radius of the derailment have been told to evacuate.
Flener says the situation is being handled locally but two state emergency management officials have been sent to Blount County in case the agency's help is needed.
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6:25 a.m.
An area high school has been set up as a shelter for residents who've had to evacuate after a train carrying a flammable gas derailed and caught fire in eastern Tennessee.
Authorities say the Red Cross is using Heritage High School in Maryville as a shelter for residents who have no other place to go.
Residents within a 1-mile radius of the train derailment have been told to evacuate.
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6 a.m.
Authorities say at least one train car carrying a flammable and toxic gas has derailed and caught fire in eastern Tennessee, prompting an evacuation within a 1-mile radius.
WATE-TV reports the CSX train derailed in Blount County, south of Knoxville.
On its Facebook page, the Blount County Sheriff's Office said early Thursday that the evacuations could last from 24 to 48 hours.
A shelter for residents has been set up at a high school.
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