A 124-car Union Pacific train derailed in Alpine shortly before midnight on the evening of February, 26, causing 85 cars to jump the tracks.

Brewster County Emergency Services Coordinator Tom Santry said approximately 1,500 gallons of a substance similar to mineral oil spilled from the train and crews from Union Pacific removed and transported the oil and nearby soil away.

According to Union Pacific spokesman James Barnes, the last 4 derailed cars contained the chemical Tetrahydrofuran; none of those tanks ruptured and none of this chemical was spilled.

The substance, a highly flammable chemical agent used in cleaning plastic and rubber and apparently also found in Spandex, is an irritant to many systems of the human body: inhalation or other exposure to the substance can cause coughing, dizziness, headache, nausea, sore throat, unconsciousness, and dryness, redness and pain in the skin. As a precaution, residents within a half-mile radius of the spill were evacuated to the civic center and school was cancelled at Alpine's middle school due to its proximity to the site.

A more sophisticated Haz-Mat (Hazardous Materials) team was dispatched by Union Pacific from El Paso and the actual inspection of the derailed cars took place at first light when the teams had better visibility.

Some television stations in Midland and Odessa apparently told viewers in the Alpine area not to go outside, yet local radio station KALP, in direct communication with Sheriff Ronny Dodson, says it had received no such precaution for listeners from the sheriff.

According to UP spokesman Barnes, the cause of the accident is unknown and is under investigation. The train was en route from Louisiana to ports in California, and the train crew was unharmed.

Brewster County Judge Val Beard reminded residents “This is a good time to remind everyone that in this remote part of the state, we’re always on our own during the first hours of any emergency situation. In light of that, in the last few years, Brewster County has devoted considerable time and resources to strengthening our own emergency response capability.”

Beard also praised the numerous agencies and emergency crews that acted so quickly and professionally.

Added Beard, this “coordinated response tells us that these ongoing efforts to beef up emergency management in Brewster County are paying off.”

A glimpse of the remnants of a Union Pacific train wreck. The accident -- cause still unknown and under investigation -- happened at about 11:50 pm. Tues night. These photos were taken from the west side of the tracks on the west side of Alpine, after the area was declared "safe" and clean-up efforts have begun.

View from the other side, accessible via FM 1703/Sunny Glen Road, which was closed for many hours this morning until a Haz-Mat team dispatched from El Paso by Union Pacific declared the area safe and allowed evacuated residents (within a 1/2 mile of the derailment) to return home.