Evacuations lifted after dozens of train cars derailed near New Mexico state line, some carrying propane

Thirty-five rail cars of a train derailed in New Mexico Friday afternoon, prompting evacuations that lasted until Sunday and forcing a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 40 to close.

Thirty-five rail cars of a train derailed in New Mexico Friday afternoon, prompting evacuations that lasted until Sunday and forcing a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 40 to close. McKinley County Fire & Rescue was dispatched around 12:40 p.m. Friday after the train derailed and caught fire off Interstate 40 near the state line. Six of the derailed train cars were carrying propane, according to BNSF Railway. Evacuation orders were issued for residents within a two-mile radius of the derailment and fire along the New Mexico state line with Arizona, according to an update from BNSF Railway. All evacuations were lifted Sunday, according to a Facebook post from McKinley County Fire & Rescue. Air monitoring at the site was ongoing Sunday and results do “not indicate any concern for air quality,” the agency said. Interstate 40 – which was closed in both directions with traffic rerouted – was reopened Sunday. “Westbound I-40 from mile marker 126 remains open to traffic. Both lanes from eastbound I-40 from mile marker 333 in Arizona is also open following Friday’s derailment fire,” the county’s fire and rescue said. A team of National Transportation Safety Board investigators are also expected to document the scene and examine the train and equipment involved in the derailment, the NTSB said.