MIAMI VALLEY — Officials issued an “urgent evacuation notice” on Sunday evening for anyone living within a mile of a train derailment that occurred in East Palestine.
>> DeWine issues evacuation notice for East Palestine following train derailment
Teams are working to prevent an explosion from happening and residents living within a mile of the site have been asked to leave the area immediately.
This is not the first train derailment in Ohio to prompt evacuations or large clean-up efforts. Some have even happened right here in the Miami Valley.
Miamisburg Train Derailment- July 8, 1986
Over 30 years ago, a huge train derailment disaster put the City of Miamisburg in the national spotlight for a week, forcing mass evacuations.
>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 35 years later: Miamisburg train derailment remembered
15 cars of a 144-car freight train went off the tracks and a tanker car containing white phosphorous began burning uncontrollably, sending a huge plume of smoke across large sections of southern Montgomery County.
The derailment happened on the tracks on the trestle over Bear Creek. It remains one of the largest train derailment evacuations in North American history. It wasn’t just the nearby homes that were evacuated – it was all of Miamisburg as well as part of West Carrollton and Moraine too.
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Coldwater Train Crash- June 16, 2022
A crash involving a train and semi-tractor trailer heavily damaged a local business in Coldwater in June of 2022.
>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Semi driver cited in Coldwater crash involving train
The crash was reported in the 200 block of Main Street, near First Street.
Coldwater police said that a 2019 Freightliner semi-tractor trailer was heading east on West Main Street and stopped in traffic west of the railroad crossing at West Main Street and First Street. The semi then continued east through the rail crossing and was hit by a 1978 General Motors train that was heading northeast on the RJ Corman railroad tracks.
Upon hitting the semi, the trailer was pushed into The Mr. Shoppe, a men’s clothing store in Coldwater. The crash caused heavy damage to the building.
The driver of the semi was cited for failure to yield at a railroad grade crossing.
Mad River Township Train Derailment- May 12, 2022
Over two dozen rail cars derailed from the tracks on a Clark County railroad in May of 2022.
Twenty-six rail cars were involved in the derailment on a railroad near Lower Valley Pike and Old Mill Road in Mad River Twp., according to firefighters.
The rail cars that derailed were carrying new passenger cars and scrap medal. Hazmat crews and drones were called to the scene to assess the damage. Firefighters determined there was no release of any hazardous materials and there was no environmental impact to the area.
The derailment happened in a residential area and cleanup lasted throughout the day.
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Greene County Train Derailment- April 3, 1974
According to a social media post from the the Greene County Ohio Historical Society, a train derailed crossing West Main/US 35 after an F5 tornado touched down in Xenia on April 3, 1974.