Fire crews battling crude-train blaze after derailment

GALENA, Ill. - Firefighters were still working on Saturday to extinguish several blazes that erupted when a Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC train loaded with crude oil derailed two days ago in a rural area of northwestern Illinois, a local official said.
The incident marked the latest in a series of derailments in North America involving trains hauling crude oil, heightening focus on rail safety.
Nobody was injured in Thursday’s fiery wreck, in which 21 cars of a 105-car train that originated in North Dakota derailed on the mainline track about 3 miles outside of Galena.
Five of the 103 cars packed with Bakken crude oil caught fire, sending plumes of black smoke and fireballs over the area, city and company officials said.
By Saturday, several minor fires were still burning in the toppled cars but crews expected to extinguish the lingering blazes by later in the day, said Galena City Administrator Mark Moran.
BNSF said in a statement it anticipates its mainline track will be operational on Monday.