Cleanup continues following 31-car train derailment in NW Montgomery County

DACUS, Texas (KBTX) - Cleanup continues Monday afternoon for a 31-car train derailment near the small community of Dacus in Montgomery County.

The Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management says all the cars were loaded with limestone rock and there are no reports of hazardous materials or any other dangerous materials linked with the incident.

Some of the cleanup on Monday is happening along N Log Cabin Road north of Dacus but there are also no road closures reported at this time.

Emergency Management tells KBTX the derailment happened over the weekend, but they were just notified of the situation Monday.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to KBTX that they did respond to the incident over the weekend, however when it happened they were told by BNSF that only four to five cars derailed.

Footage taken by ABC 13 from the air shows a number of cars are still tossed over in a field in a rural area.

In a statement to KBTX BNSF Railway said the train cars derailed on Saturday and no injuries were reported.

“The cause of the derailment is currently under investigation,” BNSF said in the statement. “BNSF did notify appropriate all necessary agencies including Montgomery County approximately ten minutes of the derailment.”

Since the train cars derailed residents in the area told KBTX the roads have been packed with cranes, trucks and heavy equipment.

“They’re now trying to take apart each car and bring them out one by one, piece by piece, so thats where we sit,” resident, Mary Ann Biesiada said. “They’re fixing the railroad now and then hopefully our streets will be fixed.”

Biesiada said she spoke with a BNSF employee on Sunday who provided her with some information about the situation.

“Other than that we have not been officially told anything nor have we been in contact with anyone that is official from either the railroad, or the county, or anybody like that,” Biesiada said.

With cleanup underway, Biesiada said her main concern along with the other residents is that they don’t get forgotten by the county commissioners or the railroad company.

“The destruction that is happening through our neighborhood is rather immense,” Biesiada said. “I hope in the next couple of days they will come out here to take a look, they will ask the resident that live here what is it that we need. What we need is for the roads to be fixed and put back in a condition that we can walk and live a peaceful restful life like we’ve been doing.”

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