UNP Union Pacific Corp

By Alejandro Lazo and Betsy Morris 

A Union Pacific Corp. train carrying crude oil through the scenic Columbia River Gorge in northern Oregon derailed on Friday and caught fire, prompting the shutdown of Interstate 84 and the evacuation of local schools, federal and local officials said.

Union Pacific didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Federal Rail Administration said the train belongs to Union Pacific. Investigators from that federal agency are on their way to the scene, as are investigators from the state Department of Transportation.

The derailment occurred near the town of Mosier, which is along the Columbia River about 70 miles north of Portland, said Tom Fuller, a spokesman for the Transportation Department.

No deaths were reported, and it is unknown if oil was spilling into the river, said Richard Hoover, a spokesman for the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal.

Schools in Mosier were evacuated and images of the derailment on local news stations showed large plumes of smoke coming from the site of the derailment.

The derailment follows a cluster of such incidents in North America over the past few years, including the oil-train wreck in Canada that killed 47 people in 2013 and a derailment in Virginia that spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the James River the following year.

Write to Alejandro Lazo at alejandro.lazo@wsj.com and Betsy Morris at betsy.morris@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 03, 2016 18:16 ET (22:16 GMT)

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