An “active hazmat” situation — a “fire involving a train” that has leaked diesel — happened west of the Salt Lake City International Airport, the Salt Lake City Fire Department reported Friday afternoon.
Salt Lake City Fire is responding to a hazmat situation near the Salt Lake City International Airport they say was caused by leaked diesel after a fire involving a train.
An “active hazmat” situation — a “fire involving a train” that has leaked diesel — happenedwest of the Salt Lake City International Airport, the Salt Lake City Fire Department reported Friday afternoon.
The situation is in the area of 436 N Neil Armstrong Road, just west of the airport, the fire department first posted on its X account at 12:31 p.m.
Access to Neil Armstrong was limited as crews are on scene, the department said, and Wright Brothers Drive remained closed as of about 4 p.m., according to Salt Lake fire captain Chad Jepperson.
According to Jepperson, it’s believed that when the train derailed, its 500-gallon fuel tanks beneath the locomotive hit some debris, causing a leak. The friction either caused a spark or created enough heat to set the diesel on fire. (The cause of the derailment is still being investigated.)
“Crews arrived and found fire coming from both sides of the train,” Jepperson said. Flames from burning diesel typically aren’t particularly large, he said, and the fire was extinguished in about 30 minutes.
Firefighters sealed the tanks, and a contractor with the railroad company is expected to drain the diesel still remaining in the tank, he said.
Roughly 50 gallons leaked to the ground, he said.
The rear of the train extended a block east, to Wright Brothers Drive, he added, but he expected it wouldn’t take long for the train company to clear.
The department said it will coordinate with the Salt Lake County Health Department to handle the spilled diesel.
Nicholas Rupp, the health department’s communications director, said the leak is slow and doesn’t pose a threat to any waterways.
A railroad contractor on site will pump out fuel remaining in the tank and clean “the small puddle” from the ground, Rupp said, and the department’s environmental health scientists “will monitor their work.”