Thousands of residents of Knox and Blount Counties were forced to vacate their homes Sunday morning when a Norfolk Southern Railway car that was filled with sulfuric acid derailed, sending toxic gases fuming from the wreckage.
“The sulfuric acid broke loose when the wreck occurred and the fumes are traveling south into Blount County at the moment,” said a spokesman from Rural/Metro. “But it appears that the upper winds are going to bring the fumes back toward Knox County. We’ve been down there most of the morning and our eyes are burning and our throats are burning.”
The derailment occurred near Turkey Creek Road by Fort Loudon Lake. A dispatcher from the Rural/Metro got the initial call at 11:25 a.m.
“The call came in as a car wreck,” said a representative from Rural/Metro. “Then it turned to a train versus car. And then just a train. The other cars involved contain everything from sheet metal to limestone, so that is a good thing. So we are dealing only with the sulfuric acid car, once we get the acid neutralized, we’ll go strictly to a cleanup role.”
A plan to put soda ash on the acid to neutralize it did not work as quickly as cleanup officials had hoped for, so that plan was scrapped last night. A cleanup crew from Pennsylvania was called in after the plan failed. The crew specializes in dealing with sulfuric acid.
Several emergency crews were on hand at the site, as subdivisions that surround the area were evacuated. Shelters were set up at Bearden High School as well as a couple of churches in the area. A handful of schools were closed Monday morning in the aftermath of the wreck including Bearden High School which is being used by The Red Cross to house and feed residents who have no where to go until the danger of the toxic fumes subsides.
Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchinson indicated at a media briefing that it could take a couple of days before the site is officially cleaned up.

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