A hazardous chemical spill in Ohio on Tuesday could ignite an explosion, officials warned.
A tanker started leaking styrene Cleves and Whitewater Township areas in the western suburbs of Cincinnati Tuesday afternoon. A crew responded and began spraying the tanker with water. But on Tuesday night, Little Miami Fire and Rescue Chief Mike Siefke said “there is ‘potential for an explosion'” if the tanker heats up.
Emergency crews from the Central Railroad of Indiana, first responders and firefighters are trying to cool the car.
“I’m more concerned with knowing what we know now — I don’t have all the details, the experts are doing their assignments right now,” Siefke said.
Anyone within a half-mile radius of the leak should evacuate the area and others should stay inside, urged Hamilton County Emergency Management Authority. A nearby Kroger grocery store closed and three schools were evacuated as a precaution.
No injuries have been reported.
Films from the scene shows a white plume of gas spewing into the air above the railcar. The steering wheel is a toxic, flammable and highly volatile liquid used in the manufacture of plastics and rubber. Humans can be exposed to it by inhaling its vapors.
The derailment comes a year and a half later a train derailment caused a massive spill in East Palestine, Ohio in 2023.