Train derailment closes down Willmar railroad crossing

Authorities are working to clear eight rail cars carrying ethanol that derailed in Willmar, Minn.

The rail cars went off track around 11 p.m. Wednesday, a spokesman for Texas-based BNSF Railway said.

“The rail cars were not compromised and there were no injuries,” BNSF spokesman Kendall Sloan said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

Four rail cars are on their sides and four are upright, Sloan said. He said the cause of the derailment is under investigation.

The Lakeland Drive railroad crossing on the east side of Willmar was shut down as a result of the derailment, city police said in a statement Thursday.

“There is no danger to the public,” the Willmar Police Department said in an afternoon statement.

The railway crossing is expected to reopen Friday.

The BNSF train derailment in Willmar comes slightly less than three weeks after another incident near Big Lake, in Sherburne County.

The Big Lake derailment involved at least 15 rail cars.

A broken rail track caused a BNSF train carrying and ethanol and corn syrup to derail in Raymond, Minn., last year. The rail cars caught fire in the March 30, 2023 derailment, forcing hundreds living nearby to evacuate.

Between 60% and 70% of ethanol is carried by rail, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR), often to and from processing and refining facilities.