Crews set massive overnight fire to burn off hazmat near Ellendale

First responders and other emergency personnel
First responders and other emergency personnel gather Friday morning Nov. 11, 2016, outside of United Methodist Church in Ellendale, Minn., after several cars from a Union Pacific train derailed and forced the evacuation of the town's residents.
Colleen Harrison | The Albert Lea Tribune via AP

In the early hours of Saturday morning, hazmat crews detonated explosives and ignited the flammable contents of two tank cars involved in a train derailment near the southern Minnesota town of Ellendale.

Mayor Mark Schroch said the operation woke him up around 3:30 Saturday morning.

"Sounded like a big explosion," said Skroch. "When you looked out it was very vivid. You could see it was just burning profusely. And the flames shot maybe 150 to 200 feet in the air."

The explosions were designed to pierce the hulls of two cars, one carrying propane, the other butane.

Ellendale, Minn
Ellendale, Minn
William Lager | MPR News graphic

Emergency crews had determined that the "vent and burn" procedure was their only option. "There was no other way to safely recover the flammable pressurized gas remaining in the LP car damaged in the derailment, and no way to access the scene to pump off the butane car," according to a statement from Steve Belau of the Rochester Fire Department.

The early morning derailment prompted the evacuation of nearly 700 Ellendale residents Friday, but they were allowed to return home by early afternoon.

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