给当地人提供铁路安全培训

The tragic deaths in the train derailment and explosion in Lac-Megantic last year caught the attention of Canadian and American transportation regulators. According to the U.S. government, the incident is one of ten significant train derailments involving crude oil since 2006 in North America. In response, rail companies have created new training - for emergency responders who may have to fight these fires.

In the shadow of New York City’s World Trade Center in one of the most industrial corridors in the US. New Jersey firefighters climb a ladder not into a burning building but on board an oil tank car.

Other leaks can come from bad gaskets, cracked gaskets, no gaskets. That’s where Scott Gould from rail company CSX is showing the Kearney Fire department how to close the valves on top. It’s part of new training - targeted at emergency responders.

After10 derailments and crude oil fires-- like this one in southern Virginia -- since 2006. Since then, the nation’s shale oil boom has led to four times the number of trains carrying crude through American backyards and downtowns.

"It’s dealing with the unknown. When you’re dealing with rail cars, it’s a large quantity. Each car is about 30k gallons of fuel." Steve Dyl, Chief, Kearney Fire Department said.

Despite the mounting data of increased risk, government officials only began holding safety hearings in April -- nine years after the spike in oil train transport began.

"There’s a different risk calculation that needs to be made. We need to get ahead of it because right now we’re behind it." Deborah Hersman, National Transportation Safety Board said.

The US government says that the crude oil coming from those shale deposits in the Northern US and Canada - is especially hazardous. In May, it declared an emergency order, telling train operators that if they’re carrying more than 3.7 million liters of that crude oil, they need to warn the communities they’re traveling through.

But if there is an oil fire on the tracks, these firefighters will know what to look for.  "They need to look for this".

"that’s one of the key indications that a car contains hazardous materials :53 is this placard on all 4 sides of the rail car." Mike Austin, Special agent of CSX Hazardous Materials said.

Mike Austin is a hazardous materials special agent for CSX. He says the new Bakken crude oil being extracted -- is especially dangerous.

"It’s widely known that the Bakken crude is potentially more flammable. The key things that we hone in on is verifying its flammability." Mike Austin said.

To measure that flammability, Mike encourages firefighters to use this combustible gas meter during their response. It can also tell them how volatile a tank car’s oil is. That information can help them tailor their emergency response with the right equipment.

"It’s a flammable liquid. You need large quantities of foam to extinguish that.:31 and the foam isn’t always available.:34 so you have to have the proper quantity of foam to put the fire out." Steve Dyl said.

"The newer version, head shield is built into the tank car."

U.S. train carriers are slowly adding new heavier tank cars - with shields and valve covers to reduce the risks of a spill or fire if there’s a derailment. But these make up just a fraction of the nation’s tank car fleet.n the end, firefighters are on the front lines relying on their best training to face whatever new risks they find on the tracks.