Train derails in Stevens County along U.S. Highway 395 north of Chewelah

Stevens County officials say a broken rail may be at fault for a train derailment that happened Thursday morning north of Chewelah.

An official cause of the accident has not been determined. But Stevens County Emergency Management director Adenea Sellars said a broken rail may have caused the accident as the train passed over a bridge spanning Blue Creek, a small tributary of the Colville River.

While several train cars nearly fell into the creek, all derailed cars remain on the bridge and there was no environmental contamination to the site, Sellars said.

The train derailed about 8:45 a.m. near U.S. Highway 395 and Blue Creek Road. There were no injuries.

Built to carry ore and other materials, the train cars headed southbound after emptying the cargo to the north. All train cars that derailed were empty when they came off the tracks.

Damage to the track itself was extensive. Much of the railroad track was ripped from the ground and will need to be replaced. According to Sellars, there is no estimated time frame for when the track will be prepared, but a crew has already started work to remove the damaged train cars.

The damaged track is part of the St. Paul & Pacific Northwest Railroad, which runs from Chewelah to Kettle Falls. The track then branches into the Kettle Falls International Railway, which stretches into British Columbia. The tracks are part of the nationwide BNSF railroad.

The accident is the second recent derailment in the area. Another train derailed in Chewelah on January 29, when seven cars derailed on the track between King Avenue and South Avenue in Chewelah. No one was injured.

That accident was “much less serious” and had been completely repaired by the time the second derailment occurred little more than a week later, Sellars said.