FELA Lawyer News Blog

MERCED, CA  – Chunks of metal scraps and shard began raining on downtown Merced, at least that is how residents near 16th and R strrets described the train debris that fell on their town. It was described as a loud boom, followed by a rain of metal chunks and shards, looking like shrapnel, some weighing several pounds.

It remains unclear what caused the debris shower from the Union Pacific train, Merced police said, but it left eight nearby parked cars with minor body damage and broken windshields.

Cmdr. Floyd Higdon said police responded to the scene at 2:34 p.m. in the 900 block of West 16th Street, after a witness reported debris “flew off or out of” a train car. Most of the autos struck by the debris were in the parking lot of the Carniceria Vallarta Supermarket, located at 1010 W. 16th St.

Higdon said much of the debris appeared to be scrap metal.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, Higdon said, adding that it’s unknown what kind of train car the debris came from, or what the debris might be. Other than one person from Salinas, the damaged cars’ owners are from Merced.

Merced Sun Star reports:

Several employees and workers at local warehouses and businesses near the 16th Street railroad tracks reported hearing the loud sounds and seeing the debris.

Gary Sorge, a worker at a Merced City School District warehouse at 933 W. 15th St., said he was standing outside, smoking a cigarette, when the incident happened. He was more than 150 feet away from the tracks when he heard the loud “boom,” which sounded like an explosion, coming from the passing train.

Sorge felt a shower of particles and then saw a chunk of metal, nearly a foot long, land a few feet away from him. In the aftermath, Sorge and his co-workers picked up several similar chunks of metal, some weighing several pounds and containing large bolts and rivets.

Sorge speculated something came apart on the train’s locomotive. Whatever it was, it had enough power to spread pieces of metal hundreds of feet away from the train tracks. “(The debris) went sailing in all directions,” Sorge said.

One of Sorge’s co-workers, who asked to remain anonymous, said he heard the noise and could hear the debris striking the warehouse’s roof. “I thought the train derailed or something exploded,” he said.

Bob Hinson, a mechanic at Discount Smog and Repair on 16th Street, said he also heard it. “It sounded like a loud screaming noise, and then all of a sudden ‘boom!’ ” Hinson said. Across the street from the car repair business, Hinson found a large piece of metal similar to the scraps Sorge found near the school district warehouse.

Fernando Rodriguez, manager of Carniceria Vallarta Supermarket, said there were several scraps of metal in the store’s parking lot after the incident was reported. He bemoaned the damage done to the cars of his employees and customers.

Union Pacific officials say they haven’t received any reports of debris coming from any passing trains in that area. Regardless, Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt said the company has several teams looking into the incident. “Whenever there is a situation where there may have been any damage to any property, we will respond to that, and will look at some form of reparations, depending on what we can confirm,” Hunt said.

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Published by Railroad Injury Lawyer Gordon, Elias & Seely, LLP

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