UPDATE –
Burlington Northern Santa Fe is still investigating the cause of Tuesday’s derailment just east of Fisher, but had cleared and made any necessary repairs to the track for the first train to go through Crookston at about 9:00 a.m. this morning.
Amy McBeth, a media relations specialist with BNSF said following yesterdays derailment of 14 of the 121 coal cars in a train that consisted of four locomotives. She also said clean-up will likely take several more days. “When we have an incident like that we will certainly after to remove the coal and scrape the cars,” said McBeth. “We work first to clear and repair the tracks to return them to service, but clean-up can several days or longer.”
Original Story
Tuesday morning at 2:30 a.m. the Polk County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a train derailment east of Fisher in the area of 320th Ave SW and 255th St SW (Co 61). Deputies responded to the area and met with BNSF crews on scene.
“At about 2:30 this morning BNSF officials notified us they had a train derailment in rural Fisher of about 14 cars,” said Sergeant Brian Lundeen. “There were no injuries and at this time we don’t have any idea how long it will be until clean-up is complete and roads are open.”
At this time BNSF crews are working to remove the cars and fix the track. The Sheriff’s Office is requesting that the public stay clear of the derailment while BNSF crews are working on site. County 61 from 330th Ave SW to 310th Ave SW will be closed until the cleanup is complete.
No other information will be released at this time.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe train that derailed east of Fisher Tuesday morning. There were no injuries reported.
