A train derailment in McDavid Tuesday night ended with chemical tanker cars submerged in a creek, but resulted in no injuries and just a short evacuation for a small number of families.
Twenty-three cars of a 69-car CSX train derailed about 6:20 p.m. on a north-south track almost behind the McDavid Sawmill . Reports from the scene indicated that a bridge and railroad tracks in the area were totally destroyed by the derailment.
There were no injuries to the CSX crew or anyone else in the crash.
Two tanker cars of phosphoric acid were submerged in Fletcher Creek with other cars landing on top of them.
“After hours of close inspection, Escambia County crews have found no evidence of any chemical leaking from the derailed cars,” Escambia County PIO Bill Pearson said early Wednesday morning.
Units from the Molino and McDavid stations of Escambia Fire Rescue and the county’s Hazmat team responded to the incident.
A small number of homes on Cotton Lake Road were evacuated as a precaution, and an emergency shelter was opened by the America Red Cross at the Molino Community Complex. Just one family took advantage of the shelter before officials gave the all-clear for residents to return to the homes.
Pearsons said a crash investigation would be conducted by CSX. He said it may take crews several months to make repairs to tracks at the bridge at that location.