Multiple cars on fire as train derailment ignites huge blaze in Carrington, North Dakota

Multiple train cars are ablaze after a train derailed 10 miles Southeast of Carrington, North Dakota , causing chaos.

The Carrington Fire Department said the fire began around 3:45 a.m. and is still active, Valley News Live reported. Scanner traffic indicated the presence of a possible hazmat team on the scene as well.

Police say around half a dozen cars were alight. Pictures from the scene show a blaze stretching across the rails.

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One witness, posting on X, described the scene, saying, "A guesstimate of around 30 cars, possibly oil,AMS, and Nh3. The fire whistle’s when the cars let loose!"

They added, "A few more pictures,looks as though the cars are sitting over a culvert. Close to 3 inches of rain in areas yesterday afternoon." Video from the scene showed a pillar of thick black smoke spewing from the burning wreckage.

A firefighter with the Carrington Fire Department told WDAY News there is no danger to the public. It wasn't immediately clear what the train was hauling, though initial videos and pictures of the scene indicate that it may have been oil.

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Carrington, where the derailment occurred, is a tiny city of just over 2,000 people that's about 43 miles northwest of Jamestown and around 125 miles northeast of the state's capital, Bismarck.

This isn't the first train to derail in Carrington, nor is it the only one to have derailed in recent months, either. In April, a Canadian Pacific train carrying grain derailed, with at least 15 to 20 cars tipping over near the Highway 200/52 overpass, The Jamestown Sun reported.

Mayor Tom Erdmann told the publication that no injuries were reported and that the majority of the train was still on the track after the derailment. According to Andy Cummings, the media relations manager for CP in Minneapolis, told the publication that the train derailed around 7 a.m. CDT as he assured the public that there were no hazardous materials being hauled and therefore no danger ot the public.

There was no damage to the bridge, the North Dakota Department of Transportation reported after the incident. Traffic was detoured for around 90 minutes, however, as CP and the department investigated the bridge and the train.

The mayor told the publication that an immediate evacuation would have been necessary had there been any hazardous materials on the train, but that wasn't the case in April, and it doesn't appear to have been the case on July 5.