Train derails outside rural Wisconsin village, authorities say no hazardous materials leaked

By The Associated Press

(ABC7 / YouTube)

REESEVILLE, Wis. (AP) — Investigators are looking into what caused a freight train to derail outside a small village in south-central Wisconsin.

The train derailed just west of the village of Reeseville in Dodge County around 2 p.m. Tuesday. the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

Nearly 30 cars crashed, spilling grain and potash. No one was hurt.

Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schimdt said there were no dangerous chemicals on the train. Chris Abell, deputy chief of the village’s fire department said one car was carrying what he called a residual petroleum product but it wasn’t involved in the crash.

Automobile traffic was stalled in Reeseville for nearly five hours as cars that didn’t crash sat blocking a crossing. Officials with Canadian Pacific Railway were able to open the crossing by evening.

Reeseville is a village of around 760 people about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Madison, the state capital.

The derailment is the second in the state in the last three months. A freight train derailed in Crawford County in April, sending two train cars plunging into the Mississippi River. Neither contained hazardous materials.