Cargo Train Near Baltimore Explodes, Fire Still Burning Out of Control With Potential for Chemical Fire Endangering Maryland Environment

A cargo train derailed Tuesday in a Baltimore suburb this afternoon, and the explosion that followed rattled homes at least a half-mile away and collapsed nearby buildings, setting them on fire, according to reports in the Washington Post.

The train went off the tracks at about 2 p.m. in White Marsh, about 10 miles northeast of Baltimore, and fire department spokeswoman Louise Rogers Feher said there were no immediate word on injuries. Hazmat teams were on the scene, but fire officials did not have immediate information on what might be still be burning, the Post reported.

Dale Walston told the Associated Press he lives about a half-mile away from the blast site and that the smell of chemicals is very strong.

"It shook my house pretty violently and knocked things off the shelves," he said in an email to AP.

Thick, black smoke was emerging from the scene and was visible for miles, the smoke drifting across the Baltimore city line and covering the eastern part of the city. It was visible to motorists heading north on Interstate 95, through downtown Baltimore.

Photos and video on TV stations showed at least three rail cars off the tracks, AP reports. Overhead news shots show several blackened buildings and fires burning

A worker at a nearby Dunkin Donuts, Tawan Rai, reached by The Associated Press by phone, said he saw a fire and flames by the railroad tracks at first, then felt a thundering blast that sent smoke pouring into the sky.

"The whole building shook and there was just dust everywhere," said Rai, adding no windows broke but he was surprised by the intensity of the blast. "I went outside and people were rushing there, the police officers, fire trucks."

He also said he saw some ambulances arrive but didn't see anyone injured.

He also said police had apparently stopped traffic on nearby Pulaski Highway not far from the tracks and he no longer had any customers at his donut shop.

The big question that remains unanswered is what the train was carrying that is burning so freely. If there are dangerous chemicals, it could prove a serious problem for the environment in Maryland.