Residents Return Home After Derailment of Train Cars in Canyon Forced Evacuation

MARTINEZ, Calif — Residents were allowed back home Saturday, one day after 19 train tankers derailed and toppled down an embankment.

Authorities evacuated 35 homes Friday as a precaution because some of the cars, although empty, held potentially explosive liquid petroleum gas residue.

It was not known when the busy railroad line, which accommodates about 20 trains daily, would reopen.

The accident occurred late Friday about 25 miles northeast of San Francisco. The 60-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe train was traveling to nearby Richmond, Calif.

At least 19 cars of the train, which was carrying gas residue and corrosive acid, derailed in the accident, prompting the evacuation of homes within half a mile of the site as a precaution. There have been no reports of injuries or leaks, and the cause of the derailment is under investigation.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. cut off service to homes in the immediate area to eliminate any possible “source of ignition,” spokesman Lyle LaFaver said.

Meanwhile, crews continued the around-the-clock task of dragging train cars up the hillside in Franklin Canyon outside Martinez. The tankers were being placed in a vacant lot. Officials said they did not know when the job would be completed.

Of the 19 cars that derailed, 10 contained liquefied petroleum gas residue, two were carrying phosphoric acid and one was full of paint, Burlington Northern spokesman Michael Martin said.