Submitted by Det. Jerry Bell, DeQuincy Police Dept.
On Thursday, Apr. 11, at approximately 8:39 a.m., DQPD was alerted of a train vehicle incident. Officer Eddie Wellman, and Detectives Jerry Bell and Casey Whitehead responded to the incident. Apparently an east bound KCS train struck a truck that was parked too close to the tracks while unloading some sound equipment for the festival.
Damage was done to the train along with the truck. The train finally stopped near Gill St. No one was injured in the incident, however the truck along with numerous rail cars to include the engine suffered damage. Numerous agencies responded to the accident which included, DQPD, La. State Police, Ward Six Fire department, DeQuincy Fire department, Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Dept., Ambulance Personnel, DEQ Agents, KCS Railroad safety personnel and a Haz-Mat team.
Traffic was blocked on all city limit entrances into DeQuincy for around four hours. An urgent call was placed to the CPSO who immediately responded with numerous units to assist. Initial traffic control was done by DQPD and numerous 18 wheelers had to be rerouted. The DeQuincy street crew also assisted greatly. This was a concerted effort by multiple agencies who arrived and kept the situation under control.
The train safety personnel had to reroute air to the damaged rail cars and inspect every rail car for damage. Officer Wellman had the task of doing all the paperwork on the wreck and did a great job. Other members of the DQPD arrived and began traffic control. Some had to be called out from their homes and responded swiftly.
Responding quickly to an incident like this serves great credit on all our city employees and those working here for the Sheriff. Teamwork by the city of DeQuincy and the other agencies helped to control this situation.
