On a chilly Friday
afternoon, just days after a train derailment in Waverly, Tennessee, a tanker
car loaded with an unstable gas exploded during cleanup attempts. Sixteen
people died in the February 24, 1978 blast.
The derailment of 24
cars from a Louisville and Northern Railroad freight train occurred Wednesday night,
February 22, in downtown Waverly. Officials made the mistake of classifying one
of the tankers as double walled when it was actually single walled. Local
police and fire departments were on the scene for two days, spraying the cars
with water in an attempt to keep them cool. The weather was assisting with
temperatures in the 20s and a light snow on the ground. When HAZMAT teams
arrived Friday morning, the weather had changed; the sun was shinning and
temperatures had climbed into the mid-50s – heating up a single walled train
car containing 2,000 gallons of liquefied petroleum gas. Officials tested the
area for leaks and found none. At around 3pm, as crews were setting up HAZMAT
equipment, an explosion rocked the region, igniting the car into a fireball, throwing
train cars for hundreds of feet, and triggering flash fires in and around the downtown
area. Residents were evacuated within one mile of the blast zone for fear of
more gas leaks.
Records indicate
that six people were killed instantly in the blast. Ten died as a result of
injuries sustained from the explosion. Among them was Waverly’s fire chief
Wilbur York, 65, city police chief Guy Barnett, 46, Tennessee Office of Civil Defense
state investigator 24 year old Mark Belyew, five L&N cleanup crew members, two
fire fighters, and six local residents. Forty-three people were burned and
injured. For the next several hours assistance came from as far as Memphis and
Nashville with firefighting air assistance and air ambulances traveling from
Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Burn victims were sent to Cincinnati Ohio, Louisville
Kentucky, and Birmingham Alabama. A total of 16 buildings were destroyed in the
downtown area.
Reports later indicated
that the blast was caused when the single walled train car began leaking gas
out through a crack that was caused by the derailment. Although the local
emergency crews were prepared to handle train derailments, they were not
trained in handling hazardous materials. In 1980, new training standards were
put in place in Tennessee. To date, there have been no emergency responders killed at
HAZMAT sites in the state.
Today the town
remembers the horrific incident with a museum and memorial. The Waverly Train
Explosion Memorial Museum is located by the railroad tracks where the blast occurred. A fitting tribute to those who died.
~ Joy
