NTSB preliminary report on the East Palestine derailment

[jmowreader]

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Documents/RRD23MR005%20East%20Palestine%20OH%20Prelim.pdf

One paragraph stands out:

On February 5, responders mitigated the fire, but five derailed DOT-105 specification tank cars (railcars 28–31 and 55) carrying 115,580 gallons of vinyl chloride continued to concern authorities because the temperature inside one tank car was still rising. This increase in temperature suggested that the vinyl chloride was undergoing a polymerization reaction, which could pose an explosion hazard. Responders scheduled a controlled venting of the five vinyl chloride tank cars to release and burn the vinyl chloride, expanded the evacuation zone to a 1-mile by 2- mile area, and dug ditches to contain released vinyl chloride liquid while it vaporized and burned. The controlled venting began about 4:40 p.m. on February 6 and continued for several hours.

In other words, they were faced with five railcars full of extremely hazardous material that was preparing to explode, and they got people to go in there, climb up on those railcars, open the vent hatches and set this stuff on fire to prevent an even worse catastrophe. The courage it would have taken to do this is unimaginable.