LINCOLN, Calif. (AP) - Firefighters took a bold step Wednesday to drain a burning propane tanker and prevent the rail car from blowing up as thousands of people were forced from their homes for a second day.
Officials decided to take the step after consulting with members of a national response team from Houston, who were flown in overnight to offer advice to authorities in the Sacramento suburb of Lincoln.
Fire officials initially said the blaze could continue for 21 days, but Lincoln Fire Chief Dave Whitt determined that scenario was unacceptable.
Between 4,000 and 5,000 homes in the city of 40,000 people were evacuated, and more than 6,000 students were missing their first days of classes, with district schools ordered closed until Monday.
Whitt said firefighters now hope to have the blaze under control within 24 to 48 hours.
Officials are trying to head off a potentially catastrophic failure of the 29,000-gallon tank. A buildup of heat could lead to an explosion that Whitt compared to a "small thermal nuclear bomb" that produces a fireball several hundred yards wide.
An explosion also could throw metal shards up to a mile away. Officials ordered mandatory evacuations within a one-mile radius.
Whitt said firefighters have been successful in keeping the tanker cool since it caught fire Tuesday, but he worried that it was showing signs of melting.
"Quite frankly, we are very lucky," he said. "We were really able to put a dent in the progression of the fire."
In the procedure to drain the rail car of propane, called a "hot tap," the tanker will remain in place as a fire crew cuts the outer layer of the tanker and welds a pipe to the side. Steam will then be pushed inside, forcing out the propane and funneling it into a freshly dug basin, where it will be ignited and allowed to burn itself out.