Fire departments that assisted Prospect Heights included Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Township, Glenview, Long Grove, Mount Prospect, Palatine Rural and Wheeling.

Three tankers responded to the scene: one from Prospect Heights, one from Long Grove and one from Palatine Rural.

Hintz Road was closed temporarily in the area because of hose lines running to fire hydrants across the road. Southbound Schoenbeck closed for an extended time.

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Possible serious injuries at the accident scene.

Arlington Height police and Arlington Heights firefighter/paramedics responded to a report of a car into a house about 11:00 p.m. Wednesday. A white BMW sedan crashed into the south wall of a house in the 2300 block of South Cedar Glen Drive. Four people, two males and two females, were seen running eastbound after the crash. The four were apprehended on the grounds of John Jay School about one block east of the crash scene.

Someone at the scene was transported to Northwest Community Hospital — any injuries appeared minor. Arlington Heights Fire Department firefighter/paramedics returned to the scene after getting the call for assistance for an injury. They had been turned back prior because the report was that there were no injuries.

A K-9 unit was called in to help with the search. The driver was a young female. At least one person was transported to Arlington Heights Police Department headquarters.

Buffalo Grove Fire Department responded to a report of a fire in a bed in the 700 block of Grove Drive about 1:00 p.m. Tuesday. Responding firefighters reported smoke showing well before they arrived on the scene as they approached on Dundee Road. An Arlington Heights Fire Department engine company, which is automatically due to the affected building and a Buffalo Grove Fire Department fire engine were first on the scene. Firefighters reported flames showing out the windows upon arrival. Those two fire units performed a quick knockdown of the fire.

No injuries were reported, but several people have temporarily been displaced from their residences. The Red Cross is helping families and utility companies are working to restore utilities so that most people can return to their residences, hopefully tonight.

Fire departments from Lincolnshire-Riverwoods, Long Grove, Palatine, Wauconda, Wheeling and others assisted Buffalo Grove by providing station coverage or responding directly to the fire scene.

Two freight trains belonging to Canadian Pacific Railway struck each other just after 3:00 p.m. No injuries were reported, however some power lines were damaged and the railroad bridge over Shermer Road was damaged. Full story from The Cardinal: Extra Alarm HazMat Response for Major Train Derailment Near Willow and Shermer …

Video of North Incident Command (location of main MABAS Division 3 Command Center) showing train car pileup near Shermer Road south of Willow Road.


Video of five locomotives of northbound train idling just south of Techny Road.

The last video of idling locomotives is mostly for train buffs and people who are interested in the locomotives that were pulling the northbound train that derailed Sunday in Northbrook and Glenview. The powerful sound of the idling locomotives will please train buffs, but for others be warned … The Cardinal doesn’t want to be accused of wasting your time with a boring video.

Between 2:55 and 3:24 time markers, you can see the markings of one of the locomotives — Iowa Chicago & Eastern. Also, at about 1:51 you can see a small sprite-like flash at the top of one of the locomotives. If anyone wants to comment on what that is, please do.

Could that be a tanker of Jim Beam, just behind the locomotives shown at the beginning of the video? Let The Cardinal know.

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Two freight trains were involved in a major train derailment near Shermer and Willow Road just after 3:00 p.m. Sunday. The derailment involved up to 20 train cars and was also near Glenview to the south. No hazardous materials were known to be leaking, but Northbrook Fire Department and Glenview Fire Department were involved in an extra-alarm HazMat level situation at the beginning of the incident. Several nearby fire departments assisted Northbrook and Glenview for mutual aid. The extra alarm Hazmat was requested about 3:35 p.m. Most mutual aid departments, including Prospect Heights, Skokie, Wheeling, Glencoe and others were returned after determining that the train cars were carrying grain and clay. There was a report that there was one tank car of Jim Beam, but that was not confirmed.

VIDEO from The Cardinal …
See Video: Glenview-Northbrook Train Derailment Video …

None of the three crew members on the trains had any injuries. No people on the ground were injured.

A strip mall near the southeast corner of Willow and Shermer was evacuated as a precaution. Railroad cars were piled up like toys precariously over two undamaged tanks of propane gas and a railroad shed that had already been damaged. The propane tanks were removed before any removal of the rail cars. The truck that removed the propane tanks was stuck in the mud for a short time. Grosse Pointe Towing was called to pull the truck out of the mud.

The northbound train, which had four trailing cars derailed, had five locomotives stopped just south of Techny Road near the back lot of Herrmann Tennis Academy at Janke Drive and Carlson Drive. The locomotives had the markings of Iowa Chicago & Eastern.

The southbound locomotives were not visible from public areas, but were probably just southwest of the viaduct of the railroad tracks over Shermer Road. Fourteen cars derailed from the southbound train. Two cars fell to the ground on or near Shermer Road. Four railroad cars rolled over onto railroad property, spilling grain and clay. Local animals, such as skunks and groundhogs had a feast for short time while eating some of the grain.

Hulcher Services 572 Sideboom getting into position to remove derailed train cars.

Special equipment from Hulcher Services arrived to clear the derailment. On the south side of the Shermer Road railroad viaduct Hulcher 572 Sideboom equipment arrived to clear the railroad cars. The equipment has padded tire treads to prevent damage to railroad tracks and asphalt. A rear winch can tow greater than 60 tons. The equipment also carries cutting torches, cables, chains and large hooks.

The biggest concern for firefighters was removing propane tanks to eliminate any chance that railroad cars would settle or fall onto two highly flammable propane liquefied petroleum gas (1075) tanks.

A string of about 20 railroad cars were derailed behind a strip mall at the southeast corner of Willow Road and Shermer Road.

Metra is not directly affected by the accident because it is on a separate railway just east of this location. Amtrak does use the same railway as the railway that was damaged in the derailment. Amtrak has developed a workaround traveling on different train tracks in the area.

Several businesses in the area are affected, including a FedEx terminal, a UPS storage facility and a SWANCC waste facility. Fire command took note to accommodate traffic for these businesses in the upcoming hours and days.

Grain car with grain spilled out of the train car, just south of the viaduct where train cars rolled off of the track on the bridge down to Shermer Road below.

Several raccoons, skunks and other small animals had a Thanksgiving feast early, and were seen gobbling on grain that spilled from the railroad cars. Wrecking crews were waiting for the two propane tanks to be safely removed they could begin to remove the train cars from the area.

Wheels knocked loose, just south of the Sherman Road viaduct where railroad cars were thrown off of the railroad tracks.

Official vehicles from Canadian Pacific and Union Pacific were on the scene Sunday.

Shermer Road was closed between West Lake Avenue and Willow Road, and may be closed for several days to clear the train cars and secure the bridge. Additional closure for Shermer Road will be needed for bridge construction, as well.

Arlington Heights police responded to the call for the sound of a loud car crash in the area of Windsor and Kensington about 3:10 a.m. Saturday. The driver could be heard yelling for help after the accident. Police arrived in the area and found a crash on the southwest corner of Windsor and Kensington Road. A white Hyundai Santa Fe hit a large tree in the front yard.

Arlington Heights Fire Department firefighter/paramedics transported the accident victim to Northwest Community Hospital. The crash was the third one-car accident with major damage to a vehicle overnight. The crash was also the third accident involving a one-car crash into a tree in four days.

There is possibly an arrest in this case.

Police investigate the interior of a vehicle that struck a tree very early Saturday morning in the Stonegate neighborhood of Arlington Heights.

Headlight enclosure to the Hyundai Santa Fe landed on the southwest corner of Kensington and Windsor near the crosswalk — about 40 feet from the point of impact with the tree.

Arlington Heights police are investigating the accident. The crash is the third crash into a tree in four days with severe damage to vehicles. The first recent crash was in the 1400 block of West Miner, the second recent crash was on Arlington Heights at about 10:40 p.m. Friday. In another one-car crash, a DUI driver turned his Nissan 330z down the railroad tracks at Arlington Heights Road and severely damaged the vehicle.

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Marker shows point of impact of Hyundai Santa Fe with tree near Windsor and Kensington.

An Arlington Heights police officer came upon a one-car accident about 10:40 p.m. Friday night. A sedan traveling southbound on Arlington Heights Road near Maple Street had just crashed into a tree and light pole. Apparently a female driver was distracted from driving — while getting something from her purse.

The female driver was not injured. Arlington Heights Road southbound lanes were blocked for about 35 minutes. The car rested on the parkway and a lamp post with live wires also rested on the parkway just west of the southbound lanes of Arlington Heights Road. A medium size tree was also snapped at its base.

The man was transported to Northwest Community Hospital Thursday morning.