Final evacuees from derailment, fire returning home

HYNDMAN, Pa. – The last of the evacuated residents of a small Pennsylvania town can finally return to their homes, one week after a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire.

CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle says residents of 40 homes in Hyndman, about 100 miles (161 kilometres) southeast of Pittsburgh, can return at 5 p.m. Friday.

Most of the over 1,000 evacuees were allowed to return to their homes last Saturday. Doolittle says the area around the last 40 homes was the site of an intensive cleanup.

He says several rail cars that contained propane, molten sulfur and asphalt have been removed, and two carloads of molten sulfur will be taken away next week.

CSX is continuing to perform air-quality monitoring at the site, and so far no air quality issues have been detected.