McRAE, Ark. — A one-mile area near the town of McRae was evacuated today (Monday, June 17) after a railcar on a Union Pacific train released a hazardous material, KTHV-TV reports.
No injuries resulted from the incident, which involved nitric acid. State Route 367 was closed for about four hours.
Union Pacific said in a statement to KTHV that a passerby had reported a railcar on fire at about 10 a.m. “As a precaution, homes and businesses within about a half-mile ahave been evacuated. Hazmat teams are on the scene and air monitoring will soon begin,” the statement reads. “The cause is under investigation.”
Air monitoring showed normal conditions, authorities said.
McRae is about 35 miles northeast of Little Rock on UP’s Hoxie Subdivision.
