1,500 gallons of fuel spills in Salt Lake train accident

SALT LAKE CITY — About 1,500 gallons of diesel fuel spilled at the Union Pacific rail yard Tuesday after an engine derailed and its gas tank was punctured.

The accident happened when the front wheels of a switch engine came off the track just before 10 a.m., said Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt. The engine remained upright and officials were not sure if the rail or other cars were damaged.

"When we have an incident like this we work immediately to contain it," he said.

Crews used sand or dirt to control the spreading fuel while waiting for a vacuum truck to arrive and pump up the remaining fuel, Hunt said.

Union Pacific is required to notify the Salt Lake City Fire Department whenever there is a fuel spill. It called 911 several hours after the accident had happened, said Salt Lake fire spokesman Scott Freitag.

Hunt said officials are still investigating the cause of the accident.

By the time city firefighters arrived at the yard, near 1800 North and 600 West, all but 25 gallons had been cleaned up, Freitag said.

— Pat Reavy and Josh Smith