Waverly, Tennessee, tank car explosion
| Date | February 22–24, 1978 |
|---|---|
| Location | Waverly, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 36°05′13″N 87°47′31″W / 36.087°N 87.792°WCoordinates: 36°05′13″N 87°47′31″W / 36.087°N 87.792°W |
| Country | United States |
| Operator | Louisville and Nashville Railroad |
| Type of incident | Derailment, tank car explosion |
| Cause | Tank car BLEVE two days following a derailment |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Deaths | 16 |
| Injuries | 43 |
| Damage | US$1,800,000 (equivalent to $5,939,752 in 2016) |
The Waverly tank car explosion was an explosion that occurred at approximately 2:58 p.m. on Friday, February 24, 1978, in Waverly, Tennessee, following a train derailment incident days earlier. A tank car containing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exploded as a result of cleanup related to this derailment.
At about 10:30 p.m. on February 22, twenty-four cars of a Louisville and Nashville Railroad freight train derailed in the downtown area of Waverly. Initially, local emergency services handled the accident, including inspecting the wreck for signs of any hazardous material leaks. The responding team assumed the LPG tank car was a double-wall tank car; however, it was a single-wall car.
At 5:10 a.m. on February 23, after a previous miscommunication regarding hazardous material being present, the Tennessee Office of Civil Defense (now the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency) sent out a hazmat team to assess the situation. They concurred with the local officials' decision to keep the tank cars cool by spraying them with streams of water, and the decision was made to evacuate a 1⁄4-mile (0.40 km) area around the derailment zone, with gas and electric service to the area shut off.
By this time, Louisville and Nashville wreck crews were beginning to clear debris. The tank car that would eventually explode, owned by Union Tank Car Company and numbered UTLX 83013, was buried by debris. Crews removed the wrecked cars and UTLX 83013 was moved to clear the tracks, and the rail line partially reopened at about 8 p.m. on February 23. A tanker truck and a crew specializing in LPG cleanup arrived about 1 p.m. on February 24.
Temperatures during the previous two days of the incident had remained in the mid-20s Fahrenheit (around -3.5 °C) and light snow was on the ground, but by mid-day on February 24 the temperature had risen to the mid-50s Fahrenheit (around 12.5 °C) and the sun was showing through clear skies.
About 20 minutes before the LPG removal was to begin, the area was tested with dedicated gas detection equipment and no leaks were found. The Waverly police and fire chiefs were on the scene and the hazmat crew was moving its equipment to start the transfer when at 2:58 p.m. vapor was discovered leaking from the tank car. Before any action could be taken, a BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) occurred.
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