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Author
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Title
Derailment of the Sunset Limited. September 22, 1993, Big Bayou Canot, Alabama. Technical Rescue Incident Report.
Coporate
U.S. Fire Administration, Washington, DC
Report
Technical Rescue Incident Report, 1994, 54 p.
Distribution
AVAILABLE FROM: U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), 16825 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727. Telephone: 301-447-1000. Website: http://www.usfa.fema.gov
Contract
EMW-94-C-4436
Keywords
rescue | rescue operations | passenger trains | railroad accidents | death injuries | railroad fires | diving environments
Abstract
This report details the response of the Mobile, Alabama Fire Department (MDFD) to the derailment of a passenger train in a remote section of the Big Bayou Canot, nine miles north of Mobile. Two-hundred and twenty people were on board the train when it derailed, caught fire, and, in the case of some cars, became submerged in the Bayou. One-hundred and seventy-three people survived the derailment of the Sunset Limited. The majority of the "rescue" work was accomplished in under four hours. However, the incident was protracted because the MFD had to oversee recovery of the 47 deceased. Ihis required sending divers into zero-visibility, subsurface, confined-space conditions. Furthermore, surface operations to support the body recovery required personnel to work in extreme heat and humidity for hours on end. Use of the Incident Command System permitted the MFD to run a safe and efficient operation in the face of extremely adverse conditions. While the "technical" operations are not especially illuminating, this incident is extremely instructive in understanding the value of tight incident control that is afforded through the Incident Command System.