Tanker Carrying Flammable Liquid Explodes

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) _ A tanker truck explosion led officials to order evacuations. <br/><br/>Investigators said one person was hospitalized with undisclosed injuries. They said they are unsure what

Wednesday, August 1st 2007, 7:38 am

By: News On 6

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) _ A tanker truck explosion led officials to order evacuations.

Investigators said one person was hospitalized with undisclosed injuries. They said they are unsure what caused the blast Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities ordered an evacuation within a half-mile of the site, which included about 2,000 people _ nearly one-third of the town's population _ just west of the town's business district.

``We know that we have a trailer transport carrying some sort of flammable liquid adjacent to rail cars,'' said David Krahling, spokesman for the Sioux Center Fire Department. ``I'm not exactly sure how full or empty any of those vessels were.''

Firefighters were called Tuesday afternoon to Farmers Co-op Society in downtown after a flammable substance being unloaded from the tanker into a railway car exploded.

Lenore Prins, who lives one block from the co-op, said she heard the explosions from inside her home.

``First it was one, and then probably three, four, five more,'' she said. ``I looked out the window and there was a lot of black smoke and fire.''

Prins walked outside to see what had happened. ``We could feel the heat,'' she said.

Krahling said the fire was contained to a relatively small area, but the threat of further explosions kept firefighters on high alert much of the night.