Gas Line Rupture Causes Fire Near Train With Hazardous Materials West Of Cheyenne, Fireball Seen 60 Miles Away

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect the fire near a train hauling hazardous materials was not a derailment, as fire officials have confirmed. The train had stopped because of the gas leak. It also has more information about local hazmat response.

CHEYENNE — Laramie County fire crews have cleared the scene of a spectacular railroad incident authorities are calling a “significant and dangerous event” caused by a ruptured natural gas line near a train carrying hazardous materials west of Cheyenne in the early hours of Sunday.

Laramie County Fire District No. 10 was dispatched at 1:08 a.m. on reports of explosions and flames visible from 60 miles away, said Daniel Streetman, a firefighter and spokesman for the fire district.

“You could see the glow from town (Cheyenne) as we responded, and we had reports from Colorado that they could see it,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Sunday morning. “The Larimer County Dispatch (in Colorado) called because people could see it from Wellington (Colorado).”

The large fire was located near mile marker 350 on Interstate 80.

Cheyenne Fire Rescue responded to the incident to provide hazmat support, Chief Andrew Dykshorn told Cowboy State Daily later Sunday evening. They provided support until Union Pacific crews arrived to handle the response, he said.

He also said the fire threatened the train with the hazardous materials and that there was another train on a nearby track that was protected.

Brendan John was one of those awakened in the middle of the night to see the "insane" glow of fire in the darkness.

“I woke up last night for a possible black bear on our security camera,” he said. “Instead, I see what looked like another sun rising, until zooming in.

“I snapped some photos and a video at 1:59 a.m. The size of the fire was absolutely insane. Literally pulsing light in the sky from such an intense fire as you can see in the video. I'm glad everybody on the train got out safe.”

Another video was captured by Laramie County resident Michelle Emme. Emme wasn't home but her Ring camera captured the explosion.

(Video courtesy: Michelle Emme)

The Fire

When fire crews arrived, they confirmed a ruptured natural gas line had sparked a fire that created a fireball, according to a report from District 10.

“The incident involved a Union Pacific Railroad train and a ruptured natural gas pipeline,” the report says. “The ruptured pipeline ignited in close proximity to rail cars carrying hazardous materials, placing responders and the surrounding area at a heightened risk.”

Just what those hazardous materials were or how much was involved wasn’t known, Streetman said.

What he does know is that his and other ground crews waited close to the scene while hazardous materials responders cleared the area as safe to go into. Once that was done, that’s what they did, he said.

Streetman also cautioned people that social media reports based on incomplete emergency scanner traffic are not reliable to tell just what happened.

That includes reports of ammonium nitrate being involved, he said.

“Nothing like that was there,” Streetman said. “The only hazmat that was involved was a couple of ethanol cars. Those cars are stable now, and we just cleared the scene.

“The fire is out, there is no active flame or anything of that nature. The Union Pacific hazmat crew is still on scene and it’s been cleared of any and all safety concerns.”

Video courtesy: Brendan John

Crew Is OK

Streetman said that as fire crews responded, they met the train crew walking out from the scene of the incident. They were all OK.

“The train crew had self-evacuated, and we met them coming in, so we knew there were no people left there and they were OK,” he said.

The area of the fire was rural and no private homes were threatened during the incident, Streetman said.

“It was out between some private lands and the Belvoir Ranch, and it was pretty secluded out there west of Cheyenne,” he said. “We were able to do some pretty good surveying with drones and coordinated with the gas company to get the line shut in.

“That took some time to burn out, and once it burned out we could get crews on the ground.”

Those ground crews put out a grass fire that was started by the incident, which is completely extinguished, he said.

How many railcars were threatened and what they were carrying weren’t known as of Sunday morning, Streetman said, adding that the scene was turned over to Union Pacific investigators.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is available.

Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com and Jimmy Orr can be reached at jimmy@cowboystatedaily.com.