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    When train crashes leak harmful chemicals, small town firefighters can be vulnerable

    Firefighters are often "woefully under-equipped" to handle train accidents that emit hazardous materials. Most of those serious enough to cause evacuations happened near small towns.
    by Chiara Eisner Mar 10, 2023 5 minutes
    Smoke rises from a derailed cargo train in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 4. The train was shipping cargo from Madison, Ill., to Conway, Pa., when it derailed in Ohio.

    More than 90 million tons of hazardous materials are transported on American railroads a year. The trains rumble by towns at all hours, blaring their horns. Chemicals potent enough to kill people or lead to cancer can be sloshing around inside.

    Accidents that result in the release of hazardous materials are rare, but when trains do crash, the consequences can be serious. Most of the recent ones that caused evacuations have happened near small communities, NPR found. Local firefighters who respond are uniquely vulnerable to the effects. But across the country, they are often under-prepared to handle the chemicals when they come off the tracks.

    It happened in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3. At least 1.1 million pounds of carcinogens were emitted, a has alleged, after 11 cars with hazardous materials derailed and caught

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