LOCAL NEWS
'Lots of reasons to be thankful.' | No leaks after train carrying hazardous chemicals derails in North Texas

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WFAA chopper footage from the scene in Palo Pinto County showed mangled train cars piled up off the tracks, heavy smoke, and fire trucks on the side of the tracks.

Author: Rachel Snyder, Teresa Woodard
Published: 3:53 PM CDT August 12, 2025
Updated: 10:06 PM CDT August 12, 2025

GORDON, Texas — A Union Pacific train derailed Tuesday afternoon about two miles east of Gordon in Palo Pinto County.

Almost three dozen cars jumped the track, and sparks from the derailment caught grass on fire near the tracks. Some of the cars carried potentially hazardous chemicals, but none of them leaked, according to Kent Farquhar, assistant fire chief for Palo Pinto County Emergency Services District 1.

"Lots of reasons to be thankful," Farquhar told WFAA. "Derailments are always very fluid. You never know what’s going to happen. They could be stable one moment and unstable the next."

The cars left the track around 2 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Coalville Road and Highway 193, not far from Interstate 20. Palo Pinto County is about 90 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

The first crews who arrived on the scene saw that the cars contained hydrochloric acid, propane, and fuel, Farquahr said.

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