1989 Helena train wreck

Train accident in Montana, U.S. October 2015 Helena Train Wreck 1989 02 02 4:48 AM Helena, Montana US Montana Rail Link 121 Failure of train crew to set brakes properly.https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAR8905.pdf Collision and Derailment of Montana Rail Link Freight Train with Locomotive Units and Hazardous Materials Release National Transportation Safety Board December 6, 1989 RAR-89-05 2 51 7 0 2 $6 million The Helena Train Wreck occurred in the early morning on February 2, 1989, in Helena, Montana, United States, when 49 cars of a Montana Rail Link freight train that had been decoupled from their locomotives by a train crew on Mullan Pass rolled backwards down the pass, traveling nine miles back into the city of Helena and colliding with a set of "helper" locomotives at a railway crossing near the center of the community. The collision resulted in a fire and explosion that damaged Carroll College and other nearby structures, knocked out power to most of the town, and led to the evacuation of residents within an area of 2 sqmi due to concerns of possible toxic chemical release. The event occurred during a severe cold snap, with temperatures below -30 F that morning and with a wind chill factor of as much as -75 F, which froze the water that firefighters used to attempt to extinguish the fire. Event In the early morning of February 2, 1989, during a record cold snap, a Montana Rail Link freight train picked up three extra "helper" locomotives in Helena, Montana, to help move the train over Mullan Pass. The train then traveled west from Helena. Halfway up the pass, the lead engine developed an electrical problem that caused a loss of power (and failure of the cab heater) and at about the same time was stopped by a malfunctioning signal. The train crew then parked the train at the Austin siding, on the east side of Mullan Pass. In order to have a locomotive with working lights and heat leading, the crew uncoupled the engines from the 49-car train to switch the order of the locomotives, setting the air brakes but not the hand brakes on the cars.https://books.google.com/books?id=kvhWgESXeswC&pg=PA127 Searl Molly Montana Disasters: Fires, Floods, and Other Catastrophes 127–128 Pruett Publishing Boulder, CO 0-87108-918-1 2001 January 22, 2012 At about 5:30 a.m., record cold temperatures caused the air brakes to fail on the decoupled cars. The cars then rolled backwards 9 mi downhill, uncontrolled, into Helena, crashed into a parked set of "helper" locomotives near the Benton Avenue crossing and Carroll College, caught fire, and exploded.http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/tfx/tx.php?wfo=tfx&type=html&loc=text&fx=topweather National Weather Service Unveils Montana's Top Ten Weather/Water/Climate Events of the 20th Century National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration January 22, 2012 The explosion awakened many local residents, some of whom thought it was an earthquake. The blast caused extensive damage to Carroll College, shaking St. Charles Hall, a classroom and dormitory building, and shattering most of the windows in Guadelupe Hall, the women's dormitory.http://helenair.com/news/local/article_8984de1d-0792-5aad-8021-fba2af1f35f1.html 20 Years Ago Today, Helena Shook, Rattled and Froze Helena Independent Record Brandt Angela February 1, 2009 January 22, 2012 A piece of a railroad car landed in the college library, which was vacant at the time due to the early hour of the day. Other buildings damaged in Helena included the scagliola columns and other interior features of the Cathedral of St. Helena, located over 1 mi away.http://www.conradschmitt.com/portfolio/projects/?projectid=172 Cathedral of St. Helena, Helena, Montana Conrad Schmitt Studios January 22, 2012 No one was killed, but the explosion disabled electric service to much of the community, as well as to some residents outside Helena, including rolling brownouts extending as far north as Great Falls, Montana, approximately 90 mi away.http://www.kfbb.com/news/local/38839422.html "The House Really Shook": Central Montana Remembers Explosion of 1989 KFBB News February 2, 2009 January 22, 2012 dead https://archive.today/20130127133635/http://www.kfbb.com/news/local/38839422.html January 27, 2013 mdy-all It shattered windows 1 mi distant, ejected debris for blocks, and increased concerns about toxic gases spreading through the community. Neighborhoods within a radius of 2 mi were evacuated. Weather The temperature at the time of the accident was about -32 F and the resulting power outage disabled heat for a significant number of community residents. Later consequences included water damage to buildings resulting from frozen plumbing and other difficulties that necessitated expensive repairs and plagued local residences for years.http://helenair.com/news/local/mold-turns-dream-home-to-house-of-horror/article_76602aa0-31ef-11e1-962c-001871e3ce6c.html Mold Turns Dream Home To House Of Horror Byron Eve Helena Independent Record December 29, 2011 January 22, 2012 The event headlined a three-minute story on winter weather on NBC News that evening.http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=566959 NBC Evening News for Thursday, Feb 02, 1989 Vanderbilt Television News Archive January 22, 2012 The cold snap that ran from January 30 to February 4 was ranked number 4 on the NOAA's list of Montana's Top Weather/Water/Climate events of the 20th century. The temperature remained colder than -20 F for 84 hours. A record low, -33 F, occurred on February 4. Wind chill was as low as -75 F. Firefighters were hampered by water freezing as they attempted to use hoses to extinguish the blaze. Hazardous materials First responders were concerned about the potential for exposure to toxic chemicals, as they did not know at the time what materials were being transported by the freight cars. The explosion was later determined to have been caused by a tanker carrying isopropyl alcohol, which caught fire and caused an explosion in another nearby car containing hydrogen peroxide. This was deemed a hazardous materials release.http://www.ess.co.at/HITERM/REGULATIONS/transport.html Transportation and the Environment: An Annotated Bibliography U.S. Department of Transportation January 22, 2012 April 24, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130424124220/http://www.ess.co.at/HITERM/REGULATIONS/transport.html dead The accident, particularly due to the chemical release, has been used as an example of the risks inherent in rail transportation, particularly by those assessing the risks of rail transportation of nuclear materials.http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/news/nwpo991208a.htm Comments of Robert J. Halstead On Behalf Of The State Of Nevada Agency For Nuclear Projects Regarding The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Study Assessing Risks Of Spent Nuclear Fuel Transportation Accidents (Modal Study Update) Presented At The Public Meeting In Henderson, Nevada December 8, 1999 State of Nevada January 22, 2012 November 12, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20111112023926/http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/news/nwpo991208a.htm dead This derailment was part of a 2003 study of highway and train derailment accidents by the United States Department of Energy on accident sequence and nuclear risk.http://www.nei.org/corporatesite/media/filefolder/doe_accident_study.pdf http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20130311022346/http://www.nei.org/corporatesite/media/filefolder/doe_accident_study.pdf dead March 11, 2013 PDF Comparison Of Selected Highway And Railway Accidents To The 10CFR71 Hypothetical Accident Sequence And NRC Risk April 8, 2003 National Transportation Program United States Department of Energy December 24, 2014 References External links Video review of the event, 30 years later. 1980s 46.6066 -112.041408 title Category:Railway accidents and incidents in Montana Category:1989 in Montana Category:Helena, Montana Category:Railway accidents in 1989 Category:Accidents and incidents involving Montana Rail Link Category:February 1989 in the United States Category:Carroll College