A freight train derailed Tuesday afternoon near the city-county line in Rosedale. (Lauren Loricchio and Kevin Richardson/Baltimore Sun video)
By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun2:47 p.m. EDT, May 28, 2013
Authorities in Baltimore County were responding to a report of a train derailment in the White Marsh area that caused a loud explosion and sent a plume of white smoke into the sky that could be seen clearly from downtown Baltimore.
Baltimore County police posted to Twitter that a cargo train had derailed in the 7500 block of Lake Drive, near an industrial park. Initial reports were that no one was hurt, but hazardous material teams were responding to the scene.
Several industrial buildings were reported to have collapsed, and police were diverting traffic from Pulaski Highway.
The train did not appear to have made contact with the buildings, aerial images from television news showed. The train cars were flipped, with thick black smoke continuing to billow as a fire burned. Emergency crews did not appear to be engaging the fire.
Baltimore City's Office of Emergency Management wrote on Twitter to "avoid the 21237" zip code area.
On Twitter, scores of people reported feeling a "shockwave" as far away as Canton and Pasadena. "Dogs and I all jumped. Neighbor said her curtains blew in!" one Patterson Parkresident wrote.
Two employees at S. DiPaula and Sons Seafood, across Pulaski Highway from the scene of the explosion, said the explosion was strong enough to knock off pieces of a ceiling furnace and pictures from the walls.
“It was enough to scare the leaving bejesus out of you,” said one employee, reached by phone shortly after the explosion. He cut the interview short and said employees would be evacuating. No customers were inside at the time.
Another employee said the explosion “felt like a bomb going off” and compared it to the major earthquake two years ago.
“It was worse than the earthquake,” she said.
A worker at the McDonald’s on Pulaski Highway, on the opposite side of the street from the tracks, said windows were broken in buildings two miles from the blast.
“Everything shook. The whole building shook,” said the worker, who did not identify himself and said the restaurant was closed.
Sun reporters Carrie Wells and Lorraine Mirabella contributed to this article.
By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun2:47 p.m. EDT, May 28, 2013
Authorities in Baltimore County were responding to a report of a train derailment in the White Marsh area that caused a loud explosion and sent a plume of white smoke into the sky that could be seen clearly from downtown Baltimore.
Baltimore County police posted to Twitter that a cargo train had derailed in the 7500 block of Lake Drive, near an industrial park. Initial reports were that no one was hurt, but hazardous material teams were responding to the scene.
Several industrial buildings were reported to have collapsed, and police were diverting traffic from Pulaski Highway.
The train did not appear to have made contact with the buildings, aerial images from television news showed. The train cars were flipped, with thick black smoke continuing to billow as a fire burned. Emergency crews did not appear to be engaging the fire.
Baltimore City's Office of Emergency Management wrote on Twitter to "avoid the 21237" zip code area.
On Twitter, scores of people reported feeling a "shockwave" as far away as Canton and Pasadena. "Dogs and I all jumped. Neighbor said her curtains blew in!" one Patterson Parkresident wrote.
Two employees at S. DiPaula and Sons Seafood, across Pulaski Highway from the scene of the explosion, said the explosion was strong enough to knock off pieces of a ceiling furnace and pictures from the walls.
“It was enough to scare the leaving bejesus out of you,” said one employee, reached by phone shortly after the explosion. He cut the interview short and said employees would be evacuating. No customers were inside at the time.
Another employee said the explosion “felt like a bomb going off” and compared it to the major earthquake two years ago.
“It was worse than the earthquake,” she said.
A worker at the McDonald’s on Pulaski Highway, on the opposite side of the street from the tracks, said windows were broken in buildings two miles from the blast.
“Everything shook. The whole building shook,” said the worker, who did not identify himself and said the restaurant was closed.
Sun reporters Carrie Wells and Lorraine Mirabella contributed to this article.