Fire extinguished after train derailment sparks chemical spill in Kentucky

A major fire caused by a train derailment in the U.S. state of Kentucky was extinguished on Thursday afternoon, a day after the incident led to the spilling of molten sulfur, train operator CSX said.

CSX spokesperson Bryan Tucker said in an email to the AP on Thursday afternoon that "the fire is completely out." He said that authorities and CSX officials reviewed air monitoring data and decided it was safe to let displaced return home.

The CSX train derailed around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday near Livingston, a remote town with about 200 people in Rockcastle County. Residents were encouraged to evacuate.

Two of the 16 cars that derailed carried molten sulfur, which caught fire after the cars were breached, CSX said in a statement.

It's believed that the fire released the potentially harmful gas sulfur dioxide, but officials have not released results of measurements taken from air monitoring equipment that was being deployed on Wednesday night.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems, depending on the concentration and length of exposure. The gas is commonly produced by burning fossil fuels at power plants and other industrial processes, the EPA says.

Evelyn Gray noticed a problem when her back door was opened by someone telling her to evacuate. "As soon as he opened the back door to come in the chemical hit me, and I had a real bad asthma attack," said Gray.

The danger from sulfur dioxide tends to be direct and quick, irritating the lungs and skin, said Neil Donahue, a chemistry professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

"It is just nasty, caustic and acidic stuff that hurts. It's unpleasant to be in," Donahue said, adding that "once the fire was put out, the threat from the chemicals was expected to diminish quickly."

CSX is now working to clean up an additional spilled chemical and restore the area.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency after the train derailment, and specialized equipment has been deployed to the derailment area to conduct air monitoring.

The train derailment in Kentucky is the latest across the country this year. 

An Amtrak passenger train carrying more than 200 passengers derailed in Michigan last week after striking a vehicle on the tracks, injuring 11 people. In February, a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying toxic chemicals including carcinogenic vinyl chloride derailed in Ohio.

(With input from agencies)