Crews work to clear N.Y. tracks where 16 freight cars derailed

RIPLEY, N.Y. — Crews worked Wednesday to clear the site of a 16-car Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that forced the evacuation of dozens of western New York homes after ethanol leaked from two tankers.

No one was injured and there was no fire, emergency response officials said, but two of the derailed cars contained ethanol that leaked.

Dozens of firefighters who responded to the scene endured 20-degree temperatures, snow, freezing rain and winds that gusted to 30 mph overnight, emergency officials said.

Heavy equipment was brought in to right the overturned cars, while the remaining ethanol was being transferred from the derailed tankers to trucks, Smith said.

The derailment occurred on one of four sets of tracks along a stretch of rails running through a section of town located just a couple miles from the Lake Erie shoreline in western Chautauqua County.