BRKG Perris, CA: Forced evacs due to chemical leak from a railcar
- Thread starter mzkitty
- Start date
Meadowlark
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Anyone know the contents? Many years ago I was involved in a tanker car failure investigation. A tanker car full of nitrogen tetroxide on a side rail started leaking near an inhabited area. There were injuries and a class action lawsuit.
Wildweasel
F-4 Phantoms Phorever
It's at a facility off Oleander Av on the west side of I-215, opposite March AFB. Looks to be a transload operation of some sort. Probably involves an industrial chemical going to an operation too small to require their own rail siding. My guess is either something for a plastics operation or solvents.
mzkitty
I give up.
I don't see anything more recent:
*snip*
County fire officials identified the chemical as styrene, which is used in making foam products. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the reaction, which dramatically raised the temperature inside the tanker car.
However, the tanker was filled in Texas 50 days ago, and one possibility was that a stabilizing chemical in the tanker had broken down, said Mark Scoville with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Riverside County.
The evacuation zone extended a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) in all directions and included 170 residences. The area has a mix of businesses and large plots of undeveloped land between the city of Perris and March Air Reserve Base.
John Crater, a fire division chief, said he had consulted experts across the country.
“What they are telling me is this can resolve itself in two days; it could get worse before it gets better," he said.
The heat in the rail car builds pressure "and it could have a release, meaning some kind of violent explosion," he said.
Drones equipped with infrared sensors were monitoring the temperature, which appeared to be dropping but remained too high for firefighters to safely approach, authorities said at an afternoon news conference.
The chemical was effectively boiling inside the car, which brought a concern that the tank might rupture, fire officials said.
When conditions are safe, firefighters planned to move away a dozen tanker cars surrounding the chemical container and then eventually move it away to a safer location, officials said.
The problem was discovered when a plume was seen coming from the rail car about 7:40 p.m. Thursday. Authorities said the plume spread over Perris before dissipating.
Authorities said the chemical’s normal temperature is 85 degrees (29.4 Celsius) and the tank’s temperature had reached 323 degrees (161.6 Celsius) before declining to 304 degrees (151.1 Celsius) Friday morning.
Authorities said they hoped it would further fall to about 100 degrees (37.8 degrees Celsius).
www.sfgate.com
*snip*
County fire officials identified the chemical as styrene, which is used in making foam products. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the reaction, which dramatically raised the temperature inside the tanker car.
However, the tanker was filled in Texas 50 days ago, and one possibility was that a stabilizing chemical in the tanker had broken down, said Mark Scoville with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Riverside County.
The evacuation zone extended a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) in all directions and included 170 residences. The area has a mix of businesses and large plots of undeveloped land between the city of Perris and March Air Reserve Base.
John Crater, a fire division chief, said he had consulted experts across the country.
“What they are telling me is this can resolve itself in two days; it could get worse before it gets better," he said.
The heat in the rail car builds pressure "and it could have a release, meaning some kind of violent explosion," he said.
Drones equipped with infrared sensors were monitoring the temperature, which appeared to be dropping but remained too high for firefighters to safely approach, authorities said at an afternoon news conference.
The chemical was effectively boiling inside the car, which brought a concern that the tank might rupture, fire officials said.
When conditions are safe, firefighters planned to move away a dozen tanker cars surrounding the chemical container and then eventually move it away to a safer location, officials said.
The problem was discovered when a plume was seen coming from the rail car about 7:40 p.m. Thursday. Authorities said the plume spread over Perris before dissipating.
Authorities said the chemical’s normal temperature is 85 degrees (29.4 Celsius) and the tank’s temperature had reached 323 degrees (161.6 Celsius) before declining to 304 degrees (151.1 Celsius) Friday morning.
Authorities said they hoped it would further fall to about 100 degrees (37.8 degrees Celsius).
Boiling chemical on rail car forces evacuation in California
PERRIS, Calif. (AP) — A section of a major Southern California freeway was shut down...
Safetydude
Senior Member
Nitrogen tetroxide is the hypergolic oxidizer used for Titan II ICBMs and Titan launch vehicles like the Titan III and other variants. Nasty stuff ask those who responded to the TItan II silo incident in Arkansas in the early 80s.
For those who want to know more about hazmat chemicals, download a program called WISER from the NIH. Desktop, iOS and Droid Apps available. Has great info on the top 300+ hazmat involved in rail and DOT transports. Also the NIOSH Pocket Guide to hazardous chemicals. Also in App formats. two of the tools I have all the time as one of our FD's two HazMat Techs.
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Hermantribe
Veteran Member
Very close to the Riverside National Cemetery