Derailment Prompts Evacuation

Sun., July 25, 1999

A railroad tank car carrying ammonia ruptured after a Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Freight train derailed in North Idaho Saturday night, closing U.S. Highway 2 east of Bonners Ferry and prompting a call for residents to evacuate.

Four people, believed to be members of the train’s crew, were treated for exposure to ammonia fumes at Bonners Ferry Community Hospital at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Officials opened a Red Cross shelter at Bonners Ferry High School and were urging concerned residents to take shelter there.

“We’re asking that if anyone smells ammonia, they should evacuate,” a hospital staffer said. “It’s not life-threatening usually, but it can trigger episodes in asthmatics.”

It was not known how many people went to the shelter Saturday.

Boundary County sheriff’s deputies closed Highway 2 at the Moyie River Bridge, about 10 miles east of Bonners Ferry. The Montana Highway Patrol closed the highway to westbound traffic at the state line.

The road was expected to be closed all night, a Boundary County official said.

One tank car was leaking after the derailment but heavy rain was helping limit the spread of an ammonia cloud, sheriff’s officials said.

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