Officials respond to train derailment involving 31 loaded cars in northwest Montgomery County

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Montgomery County officials responded to a train derailment reported in the county's northwest area Monday morning.

The Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management confirmed the 31-car derailment in Dacus, Texas, and said all of the cars involved were loaded with limestone rock.

"There are no reports of hazardous materials or any other dangerous materials that pose any threat to the community," a Montgomery County OHSEM statement read, in part.

According to BNSF Railway, the wreck happened late Saturday when a train carrying crushed rock derailed approximately 25 miles north of Montgomery, Texas.

BNSF said the crew was not hurt, and no hazardous materials were involved.

County officials claim they were not proactively contacted by BNSF, which told ABC13 it notified the proper authorities within 10 minutes of it happening.

A spokesperson with OHSEM said although BNSF did contact the county's sheriff's department, the responding deputy was told four to five derailed cars were involved, and the cleanup would begin during the day.

"At daybreak when it was obviously more than five cars derailed, no update from BNSF came to any agencies or the state," OHSEM's statement to Eyewitness News read.

ABC13 reached out to the BNSF for a response where a spokesperson said the company followed all necessary protocols. The derailment happened on the property it owned and contained no hazardous material.

The company believed that notifying the sheriff's office was sufficient and that no emergency response from the county was necessary, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson told ABC13 BNSF values its community partners and does what it can to communicate with them.

The cause of the derailment is under investigation.

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